


A True Brother

by TheConcernedF0X



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Action, All OCs are mine, Angst, Falling In Love, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Jameson is Nicks older brother, Minor and major alterations to the plot, Multi, Police Procedural, Romance, Zootopia is the product of Disney, please comment, please read the prologue first, set in plot of the movie, trolls will be deleted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 10:08:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 75,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22968265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheConcernedF0X/pseuds/TheConcernedF0X
Summary: Jameson has returned to Zootopia after three years of trying to rebuild his life. It was time to reconnect with his mom and brother, rebuild, repair, rekindle. It was time to keep the promises he made to his late wife and daughter...and maybe...just maybe...he will find some love of his own to heal his shattered heart in the process.Meanwhile fate throws the dynamic WildeHopps together with many twists as Judy searches for a missing otter, and drags a certain reluctant fox along for it. (Spoiler alert. It’s Nick.) What follows is the two biggest cases in the last century and a undeniable bond and friendship forming....and maybe something more?But what happens when the two cases are solved? What’s left for the dynamic duo to do? What’s left for James to do? Only one way to find out.First few chapters will be Jameson focused as the plot of the movie is set up. Once the plot of the movie starts Jameson has only minor appearances! Nick and Judy centered! After plot of the movie chapters are a mix of WildeHopps and Jameson! This is not an OC souly focused story!
Relationships: Judy Hopps & Nick Wilde, Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde, OC/OC
Comments: 49
Kudos: 35





	1. New Neighbor

**Author's Note:**

> It's the official start of A True Brother! Yeeeeaaahhhhhhh!
> 
> This will be a short Authors note. So be sure to drop and/or follow if you like the story and please do leave a review!
> 
> I hope y'all are ready for this! I know I am! The story opens with Jameson awaking from his vivid dream and learning a certain bunny has become his new neighbor….

Chapter One: New Neighbor

Jameson awoke suddenly with a start, breathing heavily. Putting a paw to his chest he looked around and noticed it was night time, he had been asleep for hours. " _Son of a bitch. I just had to fall asleep, didn't I?"_

Jameson shook his head once before running a paw through the longer white fur on the top of his head and letting out a sigh. He then looked on the passenger seat of his car where his groceries were sitting. " _Hope the cold and frozen goods are still fine."_

Jameson quickly checked them and luckily they were still fine so his dinner wasn't ruined, or dinner for the rest of the week. Closing the bags he let out another sigh, finally calmed down from his dream. It had been three years now but memories like that just to go away, they haunt you in the night. It surely didn't make anything easier for him. Jameson shook his head once more before grabbing his things, exiting his car, and heading towards the Grand Pangolin Arms Apartments.

* _5 minutes earlier*_

Judy trudged up the stairs slowly, ears dropping and occasionally letting out a big sigh as she did so. The day had gone from fantastic to terrible in such a short amount of time and it baffled her in a way. After that fox had pretty much given her a verbal beatdown on her dreams she had to go back to the construction crew and apologize. Getting called quite a few nasty things during the process and she left that particular encounter feeling ashamed and chastised, as well as embarrassed. She then had to walk all the way back to her teeny tiny vehicle, the whole way receiving looks and snickers because of the dried cement covering her feet as well as leaving a trail of dusty paw prints behind her.

Once she was in the thing she had to take the long drive back to Precinct One, and once entering the immediate bellow of "HOPPS!" from Chief Bogo didn't really help with things. She then had to go into his office and report in, and explain to him every little detail to why she abandoned her post. She, of course, omitted the part where the fox dressed her down, and after she was done it was Bogo's seemingly calm demeanor that told her she was about to be in trouble, she was Valedictorian of her class after all.

"So, you abandoned your post to follow a by your words fox acting suspicious into a ice cream shop where then you helped said fox buy a Jumbo pop. You then returned to your post only to leave it again half an hour later when you again saw said fox doing, again, suspicious acts, and you witnessed his, baby which really wasn't a baby? Drive a van which you then proceeded to follow over three separate districts for the rest of the day watching him commit what you believed to be illegal acts. You then tried to confront him and initiate and arrest when he then provided you with the proper legal documents and left, is this all correct?"

Judy stamped down the urge to gulp and as calmly as she could replied "yes sir." all the while preparing for the coming storm which showed itself when Bogo stood from his chair and put both paws on his desk, he then roared.

"YOUR JOB IS TO PUT TICKETS ON PARKED CARS! NOT GO GALAVANTING OFF ON SOME WILD FOX CHASE ACROSS THREE DIFFERENT PRECINCT JURISDICTIONS! THIS COULD BE CONSIDERED BORDERLINE HARASSMENT! AND ABOVE ALL OF THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN FOLLOW PROPER PROCEDURE! YOU SHOULD HAVE CALMLY ASKED FOR THE PROPER DOCUMENTATION AFTER YOU WITNESSED THE FIRST ACT THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED A CRIME!"

Bogo then plopped back into his chair with a heavy sigh and bellowed out "Get out of here Hopps! Go home! Tomorrow I expect you to be diligently putting tickets on parked cars, All. Day. And not going off on some wild chase! And don't even think about asking for one of the missing mammal cases again! You are our new meter maid, period! The only way that will change is if you leave this Precinct! dismissed!"

That particular one way conversation was definitely a damper on her day, but somehow not as much as the verbal lashing from that fox, Nick Wilde. She finally reached her floor and went to her door, concrete dust flying up as she placed her feet on her cutesy door mat. Opening the door and entering she went over to her tiny desk and half heartedly threw her ridiculous meter maid hat onto the chair and sat down. After a minute of her head in her paws she decided to try and play some music using the alarm clocks radio to improve her mood and dim the Bucky and Pronk show but that quickly turned out to be a mistake. It was like the universe was making fun of her with what was playing, every time she changed the channel it became worse and she had to settle for some depressing piano music playing. She was about to stand to make her microwave dinner for the night, she could only hope it was good.

*Jameson in the present*

Jameson shut the door to his apartment and looked around. There was a thin layer of dust on everything but that was to be expected when you hadn't been to a certain place you own for awhile. In fact, it should have been worse but he had paid extra for someone to dust during the once a month free delousing. Jameson looked around the surprisingly spacious apartment, the key was to look for apartments for bigger mammals that way you had much more space, and he felt for the rabbit who clearly didn't know that little trick. This particular apartment was sized for about a gazelle. All it would take is some step stools, mini walkways, and ladders to compensate for everything being bigger than you are.

Well, except for Jameson's case, he made a deal with the stingy landlady and was able to upgrade and re-size the apartment. He had a tiny kitchen set to the right and to the left a couch, coffee table, and a entertainment system that made up his living room, set in the middle was a dining table, and behind all of that were three doors. His master bedroom, a spare bedroom, and his crown jewel..his own damn bathroom with a sink, toilet, and shower.

The whole apartment had a rustic farmhouse look with a lot of greys and distressed whites. The flooring was light gray wood, the walls a slightly darker shade of grey paint with a distressed white accent wall, the dining table was a distressed white surrounded by six distressed grey and white chairs with grey cushions, the kitchen counter top was concrete and all the appliances black, the doors leading to the two bedrooms were white barn sliding doors, the bathroom door was a regular door painted white. In the living room the couch was a dark gray, the coffee table a distressed white, the entertainment system consisted of a 60 inch tv and all of the newer gaming consoles. He could definitely say he had the nicest apartment in the whole building.

Speaking of the building, any who really knew Jameson would wonder why he still chose to live in the run down building. He could easily move into a luxury apartment complex with his current pay and prior pay at his prior jobs. But Jameson didn't like to really draw undue attention to himself in any way, a habit from one of his old jobs, and this building definitely fit the bill of not drawing attention. Plus the location of being at the edge of downtown was beneficial for him. But most of all was that this was and is his first apartment and Jameson was a very sentimental red fox after all.

Jameson had his hands full so he quickly discarded his personal bag in his right paw at the door, then walked over to the kitchenette and put down the paper bag full of groceries containing tonight's dinner he would cook, veggie casserole. Then he went looking under the sink and grabbed a duster and spent ten minutes speed dusting everything. Once he was finished he went back to the kitchen, he took out everything necessary and preheated the oven. He then started the meal prep, cutting vegetables with fast and expert precision (there was plenty of carrots), and prepping the sauce he would use, once that was done he wiped his paws on the apron he was wearing before taking it off and putting it on the nearest dining chair.

Jameson then went over to his bag and opened it, taking out all the framed photographs sitting at the top, there were pictures of him with his younger brother, with his mother and father, with all of them together when his brother was just a newborn kit. But then there were a couple more...One of his wife, a beautiful brown rabbit with the most gorgeous blue eyes. One of his daughter, who looked just like her mother. He wasn't the biological father but he was there since birth, she was his by all rights his. The next was with all of them together his left paw on his wife's shoulder, followed by one of his wife and him left paw on the same shoulder, and one with his daughter his left paw on her shoulder.

Ignoring all of the other photos Jameson picked up the one containing him and his family in both paws, tears dripping onto the glass shortly after. He was near sobbing but controlled himself, but only just, it may have been three years but for him it might as well have been yesterday. Looking through tear filled eyes at the photo he whispered "I miss you." before placing the photograph on the coffee table. He took a few deep breaths to compose himself before he spent the next five minutes placing and hanging the photographs.

Next he went bad to his bag and pulled out the small bag of laundry he had, one thing his apartment did not have was a washing machine, so he needed to go down to the communal laundry room. So Jameson scooped up the bag and went to the door opening it and walking out. The second he was out of his apartment he heard the sound of a microwave going off coming from the broom closet. He walked closer to the stairs which happened to be right by the broom closet and thought "wow she really found some sap to rent out this place" Then his nose crinkled in distaste when he smelt the microwaved carrots. Stopping at the stairs he heard the small sound of disgust followed by what was probably the dinner going into the trash can.

Sniffing past the terrible microwaved carrots he detected that it was a female bunny inside. " _Poor girl is probably fresh off the farm and has no clue what she's doing. I mean she actually accepted to rent a freaking broom closet in a run down apartment complex!"_

He stood there looking at the door for a moment and for what reason he did not know why he put his laundry down, pulled out a little piece of paper from one of his pockets and a pen, and quickly scribbled down a note inviting the rabbit to dinner. A mammal had to eat and he would have plenty of casserole left over as it was. Not to mention he wagered based on the depressing music he heard the bunny was probably having a bad day and some hospitality from a neighbor might just be a way to improve their mood. Once he was satisfied with what he wrote he stepped to her door chuckling internally at the cutesy doormat, leaned down and slipped the note under the door.

* _Judy_ *

Judy had just thrown the disgusting excuse for a dinner into her little trash bin and was about to be content with no dinner when she saw a shadow appear under her door. Leaning back in the chair causing it to creak she set both eyes and ears on the door when she saw a little slip of paper appear from under it followed by the shadow disappearing from her door. Curiosity piqued and she waited a few moments before getting up and walking the short distance to the note and leaned down to pick it up. Note in paw she read what was on it.

_"Hello neighbor, I couldn't help but hear your terrible microwaved carrot dinner going into the trash can after the microwave had just gone off. So I figured I'd offer you a nice veggie casserole dinner. A mammal has to eat after all and since you're living in a broom closet I assume you have a tight budget. I also have a hunch you just recently moved here so some nice hospitality from a neighbor is called for in every right. If you're wondering just who is offering it's Jameson, your newish neighbor. I live two doors down on the left. Dinner is served at 9:00._

_J.W"_

Judy couldn't help letting out a small "huh" at the note. She being both a female and a cop became immediately suspicious of ulterior motives since the mammal offering was a male. But she was also a very optimistic bunny who had just had a very bad day. A nice meal and a good chat with a friendly neighbor just might be the right pick me up to improve her mood. Her stomach also added its input with a little rumble, thinking on it for a few moments and a glance at the clock reading 8:30 she said "eh, what the hell."

Standing up from the chair Judy got rid of the ridiculous little orange vest and looked at herself in her mirror. Noticing a few out of place hairs on her head she smoothed them down only for them to pop right back up. She tried several more times and each time they popped right back up, on the fourth try a couple of new ones joined their friends and she let out a frustrated "urgh" before muttering "I'm a mess." Deciding she would freshen up and at the very least get the dried concrete off her feet Judy gathered her toiletries and left her apartment going quickly over to the communal bathroom on her floor.

Twenty nine minutes later Judy came rushing back into her apartment muttering out a quick "sweet cheese and crackers." Getting that dried concrete off her fur had taken way longer than she thought, now she stood a chance of being late to the dinner her neighbor had so graciously offered. Sure it would be only about five minutes late but Judy was a very punctual bunny and being even a minute late bothered the crap out of her. She quickly deposited her things back in their rightful place and then went back to the mirror. "great no time for extra grooming and no time to change. Just great."

Deciding she would just go in her uniform sans the protective foot pads Judy quickly opened her door and rushed out, she was already a minute late as it was. Walking quickly down the hall she stopped at the door two doors down on the left and quickly knocked on it. She heard the same voice she heard earlier yell out just gentler "just a minute."

Judy mused on what species this make could be that invited her to dinner. She could only hope it wasn't a bunny, she was tired of them. Every other week back at home her parents would try and set her up with a buck and every time they laughed at her dreams, wanted her to give them up, settle down and have a million kids. Here in the city she figured the bucks here would just be intimidated by her. As she was trying to think what species this neighbor could be a thought instantly popped in her mind as well, _"I hope he's not a fox either."_

No sooner than she finished the thought did the door open revealing to her Jameson for the first time. Jameson Wilde the fox. For Judy she was immediately shell shocked, not only because of course it was indeed a fox that answered the door, because the universe likes to mock her. No it was because this fox besides his giant differences in looks like the blinded eye, the scar on his muzzle, the nicks in his ear, the white fur on his head…besides all of that this fox still reminded her of the fox Nick Wilde she had met and been verbally thrashed and hustled by earlier in the day. They even shared the same eye color. There were similarities to the fox Nick Wide though that this one also shared besides eye color. But the most stand out one was that same smirk and half lidded look...Although Nick Wilde didn't have the amused glint in his eye that Jameson had. That's when Judy realized that he had that amused glint because she had been staring at him, not saying a single word, for quite awhile, complete with twitching nose and all.

Jameson for his part was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed with his left foot crossed in front of his right with a signature half lidded look and smirk. He couldn't help the amused feeling caused by the rabbit he now knew was Judy Hopps practically gawking at him. He did not quite know why though, it wasn't because of his dashing looks or his disfigured face, those got different reactions then the one she was displaying. Although his dashing looks was roguishly handsome at best in his opinion, maybe before the accident sure, now not so much.

Jameson also had to admit that he was very surprised the bunny he invited to a nice dinner happened to be Judy Hopps, first rabbit officer of the ZPD, graduated Valedictorian at the academy along with other accolades. Mostly by the fact that she was living in this, well...dump. Someone like her should be living in a much nicer apartment complex. He noticed she seemed to snap out of her staring when she took a step back and a cute blush of embarrassment appeared upon her face.

Judy felt the blush of embarrassment and silently hoped Jameson hadn't noticed. Clearing her throat and letting out a little embarrassed laugh Judy apologized. "Erm, sorry. I didn't mean to stare, it's just your not exactly what I was expecting and you kind of look similar to a jerk I ran into earlier today" Judy didn't know if she should voice the ext part but the more she looked at this fox the more she thought they might be somehow related..."you even have the same eye color."

That got Jameson's attention and he quickly shifted off the door standing straight letting out an "oh?" as he did so. Judy was about to reply but he put up his right paw and said. "You can elaborate later, right now dinner's getting cold and I am being an impolite host, so come on in."

After that Jameson turned and walked back into his apartment, Judy watched and noted some particular and peculiar things about him. his attire, black slacks with a black vest and tie with a white undershirt sleeves rolled up past the elbows completely different than that Nick Wilde. This fox carried himself differently as well, he stood up more straight, his pose more rigid and disciplined, his gait more fluid. He also appeared to have a slight limp in his left leg.

Blinking twice Judy internally scolded herself because she was staring again and quickly entered the apartment and turned to shut the door.

Once shut she turned back around and couldn't help letting out a "wow." At the nice state and space of the apartment.

Jameson chuckled at that and said "Yes I suppose based on the condition of this building and the fact you're living in a broom closet wow is a pretty good reaction I guess. It is nice I suppose."

Judy quickly looked over to Jameson with a baffled expression and replied, "are you kidding me? This apartment is HUGE! I mean look! you have your own living room and kitchen! and behind that three more rooms! and one of them is a bathroom! You have your own bathroom! I have a tiny bed, desk, chair, and a microwave! That's it! How is this in apartment in this complex?!"

Jameson couldn't help chuckling loudly at her reaction. Thinking on how he should answer the question he decided to go as honestly as possible. "Well you see, the trick is to look for apartments that are sized for mammals larger than you, most times landlords don't care who is in the apartment as long as they are paying, that is why it's bigger. Then you just have to get items like ladders and what not so you can reach the areas you normally wouldn't be able to. As for why it is all nice and me sized, well the landlady allowed me to resize it, mostly because I solved her Bucky and Pronk problem."

Jameson's response caused Judy to ask "just how did you solve her Bucky and Pronk problem?"

Jameson let out a chuckle and replied "oh that's easy, she used to live in this apartment, I was on the first floor originally. I offered an apartment swap on the condition I could resize this one, she didn't even hesitate to say yes. The very first thing I did was add soundproofing. Heh, well come on and take a seat at the table, I'll serve, but first you want a drink?"

Judy was content with Jameson's answer and giggled when he added he immediately soundproofed the apartment. Taking a seat at one end of the dinning table Judy replied a "sure" to the offer of a drink. Jameson nodded and walked back over to the kitchen and took out to glasses saying "Since I take it you're on duty tomorrow I won't offer you any alcohol like what I am having," He turned to show her a bottle of whiskey called "Wild Whiskey" and turned back to pour it into a glass, then he continued with what he was saying. "so will carrot juice suffice?"

Judy was a little surprised that a fox would have carrot juice let alone make and eat a veggie casserole, but then again she didn't know much about foxes. "Yeah that'd be great actually."

Jameson nodded in reply and fetched the juice from his fridge and poured some, bringing her the glass before returning for his own and bringing the casserole with him. Once he set his drink and the casserole down he then went and grabbed the table setting and gave Judy's hers. Pausing for a sip of whiskey he then picked up the casserole and gave Judy a decent portion, not too much and not too little, but enough that she'd go for seconds if still hungry. Once the casserole was on her plate Judy looked up at Jameson and said "thank you." Jameson simply smirked and nodded before going and serving himself a portion, that done he put the casserole down and took his seat.

Noticing Judy hadn't taken a bite yet he said "go on and eat, it's not poisoned or nothing and I don't praise or thank the gods before eating, so dig in."

Judy hadn't taken a bite yet for that exact reason but hearing what Jameson said she took a bite, and was instantly blown away. The veggie casserole was on par with her mother's cooking, and she began eating it with gusto. Jameson chuckled a little at the sight and then began eating his own, occasionally pausing for a sip of whiskey.

After Judy's plate was clean she looked at the casserole dish and then to Jameson. "Is it alright if I go for seconds?"

Jameson paused his next sip of whiskey and quickly replied "of course! you can go for thirds and fourths too, I always make enough for three mammals anyways, even though it's just me here."

Judy quickly stood and walked to the middle of the table where the casserole dish was sitting and scooped a second helping onto her plate before returning to her seat. Before she could take a bite though something was nagging at him that he had to voice. "You said the jerk of a fox you ran into earlier today had the same eye color as me right?"

Judy, who was currently sipping on her carrot juice just nodded in confirmation. That sparked Jameson's next line. "Well then with two birds with one stone allow me to officially introduce myself since I realize I have not done so, my name is Jameson Wilde, but friends just call me James."

Judy's reaction was instant with widened eyes and a solid leaning back in her chair. Jameson nodded at that and then said "I take it this jerk of a fox looked like that but older?" he then pointed to a photograph on the wall of a younger version of him and a younger version of Nick Wilde, arms around each other smiling.

Judy followed the finger and once again just nodded, then after a moment added "yep, his sense of style has gone down a bit though."

Jameson snorted at that and replied "he never had a sense of style. Let me guess, Pawaiian shirts?"

A single nod and a "yep." was the reply he got.

"Ick. Well then you had an encounter with my little brother Nicholas Piberius Wilde...What did he do and say exactly?"

Judy spent the next fifteen or so minutes filling Jameson in on what had happened between her and his brother and once she was done she could tell irritated probably wasn't the right word for his expression, more a combination of rage, disgust, and disappointment.

Jameson was shaking his head and muttering, Judy couldn't even fully hear what he was saying, but from what she could make out it sounded like he was berating himself, which was odd but she didn't want to question it. She watched as Jameson downed his glass of whiskey, got up and grabbed the bottle poured a double and drank it, then poured a single and walked back to the table.

Sitting down again he took a sip and said "Sorry, it's just I thought my little brother was above belittling mammals, among other things. I guess I was oh so very wrong. But that kind happens when you haven't officially seen them in 11 years...But I shouldn't be putting this on you as it stands so, ah, I guess dig in."

After that Jameson looked down at his plate and began eating again. Judy didn't know what to do with all of that, it was definitely not her business anyways. So she decided to go for the flow for now and continue eating the delicious veggie casserole.

Another 15 minutes later and after Judy had had thirds she was finally full, truth be told she might have even overeaten but the veggie casserole was so good she couldn't help it. Plate clean and the last of the carrot juice in her glass gone Jameson said "so how was it? I mean you had three helpings but a cook always likes to hear mammals own opinions."

"It was so good! It was honestly on par with my mother's. Are you a chef at a restaurant or something? And odd question but do foxes like carrot juice? I thought that was just a bunny thing."

Jameson smirked at the praise and replied "Well that's good to hear, hadn't made that in awhile, and no I have never been a chef, but I do love cooking. And fun fact, most foxes actually don't like carrots, but when you lived with bunnies you tend to learn to like or at least get used to certain things." He sensed Judy had another question on her mind and he guessed what it could be and inwardly sighed, saying out loud "and before you ask go take a gander at the coffee table."

Judy, who was about to ask such a question, gave Jameson a raised eyebrow before she stood and walked the short distance to Jameson's coffee table. Once there she immediately focused on the picture frames and picked one up. The photo within had Jameson standing behind two female bunnies, both were brown with blue eyes, the one on the right was obviously the daughter of the one on the left. Then she noticed Jameson's left paw on the left shoulder of the mother, and the mother's paw on top, and visible were two identical silver wedding bands.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce that Jameson was married to the female bunny in the photo. She didn't know what to think about a fox and a bunny being married, but then she immediately became nervous about what would happen if his wife came home and she was there having dinner with her husband, Judy voiced just as much.

"Ah, is she okay with me being here?"

Jameson chuckled at that and replied, "Oh she would probably would have had an issue, more than likely. She was quite possessive of her fox."

Judy's eyes went back to the photo but she swiveled one ear towards the door and the other towards Jameson, then something clicked. He said 'have' and 'was', not 'will' and 'is'. She swiveled her ear away from the door and looked at Jameson, who was staring into his glass of whiskey. She only needed to say one word and she said it softly.

"was?"

Jameson sighed deeply and downed the rest of his whiskey, then he said dejectedly. "Yeah. Was. Arson fire three years ago. My daughter too. We lived in the Tri-burrows, Bunnyburrow just by the border to Podunk. We were keeping the relationship a secret for obvious reasons (he gestures to himself). Managed it for eight years. Some mammals found out eventually and set the house ablaze while I was gone, I was supposed to be there too but had been called into work...They luckily didn't burn, just, got sleepy from the smoke. I was devastated and distraught, on the verge of death myself, and before you ask dying of a broken heart is a very real thing for foxes, especially if they lose their mates. Tethers like kits or other family can keep us going though...but my wife and daughter, were gone. I arrived home to find my home burning, I jumped out of my truck and rushed towards the house, but the arsonists were still there and they ambushed me. I killed them in self defense but not before they injured me critically, and I passed out from blood loss before I could reach the house…"

Judy's paws flew to her mouth and she said "I am so so sorry for your loss, I can't even imagine…"

Jameson gave her a small smile and said "thank you, it's been a tough three years, but I'm trying…if you'll excuse me for a moment I'm going to refill my glass real quick."


	2. Canes and Missed Calls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And in record time, TheConcernedF0X releases a new chapter! And the crowd goes Wilde! *mimes cheering*
> 
> So surprise here's chapter two of a true brother! This chapter is the combination of old ATBs chapters 3 and 4, 3 needed serious amending but 4 I didn't have to tweak at all. So tada a fresh chapter in a day!
> 
> If you're confused by my statement old ATB I'll clarify. Awhile back I posted this story before….but I massively screwed it up. So bad that I clean slated it to do some massive work arounds to solve the issues it had. That includes the prequel/prologue for the story.
> 
> Which by the way! If you haven't read it's prologue I recommend you do! It's not required per se but it gives a deep insight on Jameson and the events that took place three years ago.
> 
> Please leave some comments!

Chapter 2

Jameson turned and headed towards the kitchen…and only made it about three steps before his left leg gave out and he collapsed with a grunt of surprise and a little yip of pain. Judy watched him go down and quickly ran to his side.

Once she was there she put a paw on his back as he got onto his hands and knees, thinking he was going to try and stand Judy said with concern in her tone "Jameson! Are you alright!? Stay down!"

Jameson waved his left paw and then grabbed the left side of his left leg and replied with some pain laced in his tone "Ah I'm fine, this damn left actuator failed again for the third damn time this week..and friends call me James so you might as well."

Judy lifted her paw a few inches off James back and tilted her head a little, confusion replaced concern. "Huh?"

Hearing that James looked at her and replied "ah, right. That probably needs some explanation doesn't it? Right, well first can you grab my cane? It's in the umbrella bin by the door."

Judy just nodded and walked briskly over to the bin and grabbed the cane, the cane was straight and silver (actual silver) with black inlays twisting down it. Cane in paw she started to walk back towards James, who was now sitting on the floor massaging his left leg. Back at his side she handed it to him and he muttered out a "thanks" before taking it in his left paw and taking a deep breath.

"Now comes the hard part, standing."

Judy was quick to reply. "here let me help you, give me your paw."

James nodded gratefully and took his right paw in both of her and she counted it down. "okay, one, two, three!" pulling him with all her strength Judy helped haul James to his feet and he immediately leaned on the cane heavily.

Looking down at Judy he said "thanks Judy."

Jameson let out a sigh and looked down at his leg in annoyance. " _Just had to give out now did you? Bastard."_

Jameson shook his head and strode over to his kitchen now intent on making his drink a double down. He could feel Judy's eyes on his back and burning questions on her tongue so as he poured his drink he said "I'll explain everything in just a minute, and I'm fine really. This sort of thing happens to me sometimes."

Judy, still confused and concerned could only let out a slow, "okay."

Jameson finished pouring his drink and took a sip letting another sigh. After that James turned and walked brushed by Judy again to go sit on his couch, saying over his shoulder "You're welcome to join me, need to get this damned thing off my leg."

Judy's curiosity peaked so she went to join him on the couch. Taking a seat on his right he shifted to face her and put his glass on the table. Judy started it off. "So, what's with you walking fine one minute and needing a cane the next? And left the actuator?"

"Ok so as you've probably noticed by observing me, my left leg is crippled. I can put absolutely no weight on it or I'll collapse as you witnessed earlier, so I have to use a cane."

Judy adopted a surprised look. "But you were walking fine earlier, and that still doesn't explain what you said about your left actuator failing."

James nodded and replied "right, I was walking fine because of this.." James then shifted to face her more and leaned down to start pulling up his left slack leg, pausing, he said "bare fur incoming."

That caused Judy to let out a little giggle, it didn't last long. One the pant leg passed the ankle Judy noticed two things, one was the strange contraption on his leg, it looked like an advanced mechanical brace. Second was the super jagged scar running up his leg, being the worst at his knee.

"This is what it looks like, a brace on steroids. Notice how it looks loose?"

Judy nodded.

"Well if its functioning correctly it should be tight, making the thing flush to my leg. It adds support and allows me to walk on it without collapsing. This part here" he taps on the left mechanism of the brace set on the side of his knee, "this is the left actuator I was talking about. For the brace to work right I need both the left and right actuators working or you get what happened to me earlier. That's why I collapsed."

Based on the overall sturdiness of the contraption he must also be able to run with it, when it's working properly. Judy nodded in understanding at James' explanation about his brace, but now she had questions about the scar.

Pointing at it she said "and I take it that's why you need a brace or a cane?"

James traced it a little and replied "Yes it is. When my daughter was four I was on the way home from work, stopped at a red light when a semi's brakes failed doing 60 behind me and eight other cars. It plowed into our vehicles and pushed us into the intersection where six more cars impacted into our eight causing a huge pile up. I was knocked unconscious during the initial impact. Well a truck in the pile up was carrying scrap metal and flipped on top of my car, it propelled a large piece through my door and into my leg, destroying tendons, ligaments, and muscle; as well as severing arteries. I should have bled out, but something staunched the bleeding long enough for me to be rescued."

Judy tilted her head intrigued and asked "so what staunched the wound?"

Jameson nodded once and replied "flowers, specifically one called Gardenia. Which I smell like now thanks to that. Among the pile up was a flower truck that flipped over on top of the pile and it poured out flowers and flower petals all over the wreck. Gardenia petals rained down through my shattered window and into my wound, the petals got ground up all in my wound and filled it. Flowers saved me, and I planted a garden of them in thanks."

Judy sat there for a minute, taking in all the new information. A quick question formed in her mind that she voiced. "so is that car accident the cause of your eye and muzzle?"

After the words left her mouth she immediately felt like that was over stepping a bit and quickly apologized. "Ah, sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

James was quick to wave her concerns away. "Eh don't worry about it, natural curiosity. I mean I said I was in a terrible car accident, you just assumed I wasn't unlucky enough to get these injuries at a different time. Well sadly I was unlucky enough to get these at a different time, two years later. It was a normal day at the farm, we lived on a farm obviously, a small one. I had just got back from the fields and Sarah told me that the water heater was acting up, so being the fix it husband I was I went down to the basement. Made it about three steps down the six when it exploded. Shrapnel hit me in the muzzle first giving me this nice blemish (he gestures at the scar on his muzzle). My split second natural and instinctual reaction after taking that hit was to turn my head away from the blast and brace my arm in front of my throat. That saved my life but another much tinier piece of shrapnel grazed my arm as I was bringing it up and hit my left eye. Tore the eyelid, grazed my left eye and got buried in my eye socket."

Judy's eyes widened as he continued with his story her curiosity had long since replaced the shame and anger she had been feeling.

James paused to take a sip of whiskey before continuing. "the piece is actually still there, makes going through metal detectors a hassle. Anyways, little pieces of shrapnel also peppered my chest, nothing serious. But, the worst was when the scalding water hit me. (he shudders) ugh I still cant take hot showers. That put me in the hospital for a month. Now here's the thing, my eye lost its ability to hold color, not the ability to see. I got so incredibly lucky that I didn't get blinded by that piece of shrapnel, and gained only the illusion of not being able to see out my left eye."

Judy couldn't help letting out a jab at that. "You know, I don't think a mammal could be both so unlucky and lucky at the same time. I don't know if you should go buy lottery tickets or not go out during a storm."

That got James to let out a bark of laughter and to reply "actually I do both on principle!"

Judy giggled at that and James took another sip before adding "of course the first time I bought a ticket, which was after I left the hospital, I won two million. So I risk going out in storms on occasion."

Judy's eyes widened and she leaned back "wait, seriously?"

James nodded and replied "yep, used the money and started up a new business. Here I'll show you."

Standing James limped over to the kitchen, calling behind him "reach into that left drawer grab the blacklight marker."

Judy though now thoroughly confused did what was asked and pulled out the marker from the left drawer and placed on top of the coffee table. As she did James returned Wild Whiskey bottle in paw, placing it down next to the marker and then sitting back down. Judy looked at the bottle and the marker and after a few moments put it together.

"you want me to use the marker and color after the d don't you?"

James gave her a look of approval. "Clever bunny."

Judy took off the marker cap and picked up the bottle. She quickly colored the spot where she knew the 'e' would be and after about a minute the e showed up revealing the brand to be truly be Wilde Whiskey.

Judy nodded, satisfied that she was right and asked "so why hide the 'e'?"

"Well at the time it wasn't a smart move to have my last name plastered on the bottle for personal reasons. Also I am mostly a silent partner, my good friend James Sparrowtail runs the business."

Judy nodded content with his answer. Before anything further could be said James stood again and said "excuse me for a moment, I have an appointment with the bathroom."

Judy watched him go before looking around the apartment once her and mouthing a "wow".

Today had started out with her being so excited for the day, to being down in the dumps. Now here she was in a good mood again because of the company of a fox. Just thinking out her host she couldn't help but shake her head, he was an intricate and interesting mammal who of course through an interesting turn of fate turned out to be the older brother of Nick Wilde. The universe really did love messing with her, but luckily so far it seemed that James was nothing like Nick.

Judy debates whether she should mention this interaction with the Wilde foxes when her heart dropped and she let out an "oh no."

Her parents had planned to call her after work, but she had completely forgotten and put her phone on silent for the dinner. As much as she didn't want to, she slowly took her phone out and hit the home button, lighting up the screen and showing her 27 missed muzzletime calls, 10 phone calls, and 149 texts from both siblings and her parents, mostly her parents.

Her parents were probably packing their bags and going ballistic. Judy closed her eyes and quietly said "sweet cheese and crackers."

At that exact moment James' muzzle appeared next to her and he said "well that was an adorable expression, and that doesn't look good."

Judy lept several feet in the air. "GAHH!" Landing on the couch on her two feet she whirled on James who had a very satisfied look on his muzzle. Pointing an accusing finger at him she said "you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

James, satisfied look still in place, calmly replied "yes, absolutely, one hundred percent. I'm a sneaky cripple."

Judy was getting ready to retort, and possibly kick him, when her phone lit up for another Muzzletime call from her parents.

James looked down at the phone and said "you should probably answer that before they call the precinct demanding to know where you are. I'll give you some privacy, gotta replace this left actuator anyways."

Judy nodded her head several times and replied "right, I definitely should. thanks. You might want to put in some earbuds, this is probably gonna be panicky and loud."

James just raised his glass to her and said "noted, good luck officer. I think you're going to need it."

After that Jameson lipped to his room and went in and shut his door. Judy slowly sat back down and took the phone into both her paws and tried to mentally prepare herself for what was about to come. waiting until she heard James open and close the door to his bedroom she finally clicked the green answer button and put on a smile. The call connected to show just her mother in the kitchen moving the phone around in her paw. There was instant shouting, just not at her.

"Stu! Make sure you get everything packed! we are leaving in fifteen minutes Judy's still not answering! I'm calling her boss next, I knew we shouldn't have let her go to the city and be a cop, she's just a bunny!"

Judy tried to get her mother's attention. "Mom"

Bonnie did not hear her daughter and continued, "Julie!"

That yell was addressed to Judy's littermate who had just padded into the kitchen, Julie was a cream colored bunny with brown eyes, a light grey splotch on her right eye, brown muzzle, and brown ears. Among Judy's littermates Julie was the one she was closest to and one of her biggest supporters for her becoming a police officer. She would have said hi but mom was on a roll.

"Julie, you will be in charge while me and your father go and collect your unruly sister!"

Julie stuck out her right hip and put a paw on it and gave her mother a 'seriously?' look before replying "Mom, you can't expect me to be in charge of over 60 adolescent bunnies on top of my own two do you? I don't have an iron fist like you do."

Judy wanted to laugh at that and the expression her mother gave Julie, but she was too busy getting mad at her mom. " _unruly? Oh that's it._ " Judy quickly adopted an angry look.

"Of course not, you are in charge of the ones in charge of the kerfuffle, and the farm as a whole."

If she was about to continue Judy didn't allow her too. "MOM!"

That got both does on the other line to freeze and the phone to stop shaking. Bonnie brought the phone to her face to take in the irritated expression. Before Judy could get a word in edgewise now having their attention her mother yelled out "Stu! I got Judy on the phone!"

Somewhere out of view Judy heard her dad yell out "thank the gods!" followed by 15 seconds of bumping, muffled "heys," and a crash or two before her father came blundering into view.

Coming to a stop next to his wife and slightly out of breath he took in his most headstrong daughter, although just barely passing Julie's.

"Jude! Thank the gods you're okay! You are okay right!?"

Judy tried to reply but was once again cut off, her mother this time. "of course I'm..."

"We've been trying to reach you for over two hours!"

Julie, who had stayed in view of the phone took the opportunity to say hi to her favorite sister before her parents could continue their overreacting. She was calm enough to observe that Judy wasn't in her own apartment and some other mammals, maybe even in some males apartment, but that was highly unlikely.

Her sister was nicknamed Jude the Prude among the sisters for a reason after all. "Hey sis."

Judy broke off the mad and irritated expression that was on her face long enough to smile and wave at her sister before her parents continued their freaking out, her mom picked it back up after looking at her daughter to see if she was fine.

"Fine or not we're still coming to get you! You couldn't answer your phone when we said we would call and made us worry sick! The city is too dangerous and so is your job!"

Stu, who unlike his wife, actually was a supporter of Judy's decision to go to the city and become a cop. He may get overly emotional and over react from time to time, but he was also quick to calm when the situation really called for it, well...most of the time at least. Well he was in her corner once he realized there was absolutely no stopping her, sure it was absolutely terrifying that his little Jude was in a huge city hundreds of miles away doing it's arguably most dangerous job as a bunny. But if any of his 275 children could pull it off it was his little trier. So he was quick to go to her defense, he may be upset still that she didn't answer her phone after her first day on the force, but Bonnie was going a little overboard. Before he could jump to it though, Judy did it herself.

"MOM ENOUGH! As you can see I am perfectly fine, and I have been perfectly fine all day! I thought we were past this! This is my career! This is my life now! Everywhere is dangerous! All I have ever wanted was to be a cop and now I am one, it is far past time you accepted that! And this 'just a bunny' graduated Valedictorian at the academy filled with mammals at least twice my size! And for that achievement earned my place in the ZPD at Precinct One! Also, unruly?! Really!?"

Judy's outburst cowed her mother and caused her father and sister to have wide eyes and twitching noses. If Judy was honest with herself that had been a long time coming, her dad had finally accepted her dream when she left for the academy. Her mother on the other paw had constantly tried to convince her or drop little hints that it wouldn't work out. Her dad did too on occasion but mostly because he was worried instead of wanting her to do what all of his other daughters did, with the exception of a few including Julie.

It had been silent for about a minute now, Judy still giving an angry look at Bonnie who was cowed into a surprised silence at her daughters outburst and Stu was too shocked to say anything. Julie had quickly gotten over her surprise at her sisters outburst, and quite frankly she didn't blame her for it. But the silence and the staring wasn't going to get the conversation going again and over with, so Julie decided to nudge it along.

"Well since you're okay. Why did you not answer any of the calls or texts?"

Everyone's heads snapped over to Julie, her parents momentarily forgetting she was still there with them, and Judy shooting her a appreciative smile. Bonnie quickly took it as a chance to recover a little bit.

"Julie has got a point there bunbun. Why didn't you answer then?"

Judy let out a little sigh before replying, "A neighbor decided to show some hospitality and invited me to dine with them, so I silenced my phone, that's why I..."

At that exact moment Jameson let out a piercing "YEOWCH!" and Judy actually heard the electric discharge that caused him to yell out in pain. Judy lowered the phone slightly and swiveled her eyes and ears towards Jameson's door. Next they all heard him yell out "AH pancakes with blueberries on top that hurt!"

Judy immediately became concerned due to the fact she actually heard the shock that made him yell out. On the other end of the phone everyone was surprised at her explanation, and the fact that it was a male that yelled out. Not to mention he yelled out a bunny alternative to cursing, so everyone on that end immediately assumed it was a male bunny. A male bunny that she met and was having dinner with in his apartment, during her second day in the city.

Before any questions could be asked Judy quickly said "Ah i'll be right back I need to check and see if he's okay."

After she finished saying that she promptly put the phone down on the table without hanging up and quickly stood to go check on Jameson. This left Bonnie, Stu, and Julie all staring at Jameson's ceiling; all of them mouths agape in various forms of shock. After a moment the three bunnies looked back and forth at each other, Julie started the conversation.

"Well, I didn't see that coming. She had me thinking she might have been a lesbian for awhile."

Stu was the next to speak, "you're telling me punk, we tried to set her up with so many bucks here. She's been in the city for two days and she's already eating dinner in a buck's apartment."

Bonnie spoke last in a thoughtful tone, "maybe her going to the city was a good thing after all."

…

Judy quickly walked over to Jameson's bedroom and knocked on the door, calling out "James are you okay?"

James replied through the door "been better, doors unlocked."

At that Judy slid the door open and entered. His bedroom carried the same theme as the rest of the apartment and spotless, it was spacious with his bed set against the right wall with an ancient looking chest in front of it, a nightstand to the left of the bed. Set against the right wall close to the door was a full body mirror, on the left of the room was a bunch of shutter doors hiding what she assumed was a large closet, in the left corner of the room there was oddly a large punching bag.

James was sitting at a tinkering table in the front of the room that had a very nice Les Paul Guitar hanging on the right. James had his left index finger in his mouth. Seeing her he waved with his right paw and took his finger out of his mouth shaking his hand. Judy could see that the once light russet finger the tip's fur was black and singed, Judy quickly walked over to him.

"Sweet cheese and crackers James what happened? I heard the electrical discharge from your living room!"

James turned the chair and gestured to the brace that was on the table and said "this little bastard here apparently doesn't like me very much. After I replaced the actuator I noticed a chip was fried, was replacing it but it didn't want to go without a fight, shocked the living shit out of me."

Judy just gestured to his blackened finger and replied "you don't say. Is there a medical kit somewhere? That needs a bandage on it."

James started shaking his hand again and said "yeah under the bathroom sink, but I'll get it, the chip got replaced and the brace should be working again; and I believe you left your family waiting to come check and see if I was alright. Which I appreciate, but I do believe that they heard me and I said a bunny alternative to cursing. So, they probably believe you've been missing their calls because you were dining with a buck, at his house."

Judy's eyes widened and she immediately became mortified. She started walking backwards and quickly said "sweet cheese and crackers you're right! I need to try and salvage this before word gets to my 275 siblings!"

After that she turned and ran out of the room. James eyes now wide called out after her, his voice distant as she grew further away. "275 siblings!? You're kidding right!?"

Bonnie, Stu, and Julie were all looking back and forth at each other, occasionally looking at the phone and Jameson's ceiling. After the startling revelation that Judy was in a buck's apartment and their initial gossip they wanted to see if they could hear the conversation they were having.

They heard Judy's question of "are you okay?" to the buck they now knew was named James. Julie commented "Judy and James, decent ring to it I guess, but I always imagined her getting with a mammal with a name starting with N for some reason."

That earned a look of confusion from her parents. "what? Honest opinion."

Next they all heard Judy's yell of concern, Stu was the first to comment. "Well it seems Jude the Dude cares about him."

Bonnie nodded to her husband and replied, "yes it seems that much is true. I think I stand by my earlier statement, maybe it was a good idea for her to go to the city...Wonder if we'll meet him."

The next thing they heard was Judy screaming out "sweet cheese and crackers you're right! I need to try and salvage this before word gets to my 275 siblings!"

Followed by James "275 siblings!? You're kidding right!?"

Stu chuckled at what James shouted out and said, but was confused at what his daughter said. "heh, city bunny for sure."

Now with everyone confused, Julie spoke up. "uh, what? What would she have to salvage?"

Before she could contemplate on the matter though her phone pinged, taking it out she read the message that was on it, cringing at its content. "Well I would question this more but Anna can't handle my twins on her own apparently."

…

Julie started to leave the kitchen when Judy came leaping back into the phones view, literally. "Julie wait! Don't let this slip to anyone!"

Julie paused to look back at the phone and her sister and gave her a raised eyebrow and opened her mouth, a question on her tongue when her phone pinged again.

She glanced at it and said, "While I would normally have a lot of questions about this, Sarah and Rachel are terrorizing Anna and she's calling for reinforcements from their mother, so whatever. See ya sis i'll call you later to get the details." At that she waved and quickly padded out of the room.

Stu was the first to question his daughter. "Jude, what's this about you dining in a bucks apartment? What does he do? Who is he? Can we see him? Is he okay?"

Before Judy could answer his barrage of questions Bonnie added one of her own. "and what's this about you trying to salvage this?"

Judy didn't know what she wanted to do more, bang her head on the coffee table, or scream in frustration. " _leave it to my parents to blow me dining with a male in his apartment out of proportions without knowing even the basic details. And jump to conclusions."_

_…._

James sat in the chair just staring at the open door mouth agape.

_"275 siblings...how..how is that even physically possible? Just...how?..she had to have been pulling my leg, my crippled one at that...Speaking of which, I need to get my brace back on and put a bandage on my finger."_

James turned the chair back towards the table and grabbed his mechanical brace and turned the chair back towards the door. He had left his pant leg rolled up so he simply strapped the brace on. Once he was sure it was secured he then pressed the buttons on the left and right of his knee causing the brace to activate and tighten. As it tightened James let out a grunt of pain, it wasn't the most pleasant of experiences but the thing let him walk so the pain was worth it.

He tepidly stood up and took a few experimental steps, then turned and walked back to the table. Satisfied with that test he turned back around and shot out three lightning fast kicks to see if the brace let him move his leg properly with no sort of delay or issue. Satisfied when there was none he turned halfway and grabbed his cane that was leaning against the right table leg in his left paw. Turning back he pulled out his phone and shot out a quick text to his work telling them he'd be on desk duty tomorrow due to his brace failing.

Text sent he pocketed his phone and said out loud "Now let's go see how Officer Hopps is faring."

…

Judy let out an exasperated sigh at her parents' antics and tried to answer the barrage of questions they had shot at her, unaware that James had strolled by her and gone into the kitchen.

"Okay, first of all, I am not dating him nor do I plan on dating him, ever."

James a new drink in paw half turned and said in a mock offended tone, "Ever? Well that's harsh."

Judy mirrored her actions from earlier and leaped into the air several feet, the phone in her paws falling to the couch and her screaming out "GAH!"

She landed facing James who was still out of the phone's view. He had a satisfied smirk on his muzzle as he took in Judy's startled/furious expression, he hadn't had a chance to do something like that since Sarah.

Judy yelled out at him, "Would you stop doing that! How are you even doing that!? I'm a bunny! You shouldn't be able to do that!"

That only caused his smirk to grow into a half smile and he simply took a sip of his drink and gestured with glass and said "I believe you left your parents hanging, again."

Judy narrowed her eyes at him and said "the urge to kick you is growing steadily."

James just raised his glass and replied "noted." he then turned and strolled back into his bedroom. Judy watched him go and when he disappeared from sight she turned back and picked up her phone, sitting as she did so.

Bonnie and Stu the entire time her and James were having their conversation they mouthed a very confused conversation to each other. They honestly had zero clue what was happening, so they decided to just get the answers to the questions they already had and go from there. Judy smiled at her parents who still had confused looks on their faces and said "Sorry about that Jameson has a habit of sneaking up behind me. Now I will go back to answering your questions. As I said I am not dating him, I literally met him tonight. He heard me throwing my microwaved carrot dinner away and... "

When Bonnie and Stu heard what their daughter had been trying to eat before and both crinkled their noses in distaste, Bonnie saying, "Bunbun, we told you those were terrible! You could have just asked and we would have sent you a care package of food!"

Judy slapped a paw to her face and replied "yes mom I know but I am trying to be an independent doe, okay, that's why. Now we are getting off track again, so please no more interruptions, okay?"

Once her parents both nodded she continued. "And, he graciously invited me over to dinner, deciding to be a nice neighbor and show some hospitality. He had and has no ulterior motives with it. I am positive. He also wouldn't try anything because I am still in uniform. As to who he is, he is a nice male who decided to show me some hospitality, that's it. As to what he does I don't believe that is of any importance, but if you really want to know he is a silent partner of a whiskey distillery called Wild Whiskey. Also, he is fine, he was tinkering with something and it shocked him really good."

Judy felt satisfied that she sated her parents curiosity and her explanations would prevent them from asking further questions. She should have known better.

Bonnie started it off. "Bunbun he sounds nice, and wealthy. Why wouldn't you date him?"

Bonnie and Stu looked at each other briefly before he picked it up. "Yeah Jude, he sounds like a nice buck, well mannered too. You could at least give him a chance, I am sure he's at least a little bit interested in you."

"Your father's right Bunbun, I mean he sounded hurt when you told us you'd never date him, in his own apartment."

Judy once again slapped a paw to her face. _"Here goes my parents playing matchmaker again. I thought they got that out of their system back at home."_

Quickly deciding on her next course of action Judy ignored her parents and called out "James could you please come here!?"

James, who may have been eavesdropping on the conversation while he tuned his guitar, quickly stood up and placed it back on the wall and walked out of his bedroom and went over to Judy. He made sure to stay out of the phone's view and said "what's up?"

Judy waved her right paw at him and said "please come here, I want to introduce you to my parents."

James had been listening to the phone conversation and quickly deduced what she was trying to achieve. " _Clever bunny._ "

James simply smirked at her and replied mirth in his tone, "you know I'm going to terrify them right?"

Bonnie and Stu for about the 10th time that night shot each other confused looks. Judy just waved her paw at him more and said "just get over here."

James shrugged and walked behind where Judy was sitting, putting him in view of her parents for the first time. He took in their shell shocked expressions, wide eyes, lower jaws hanging, ears plastered to their backs, and twitching noses. He knew they were expecting a handsome bunny buck, not a disfigured yet roguishly handsome fox tod. Deciding to be a little mischievous he gave them a full toothed smile and a wave claws half extended.

"Hello Mr and Mrs. Hopps, I am Jameson Wilde, Judy's neighbor and the one who decided to show her some hospitality. I will confirm that I have no ulterior motives, and that I was not offended when she said she would never date me, I said that in a mock offended tone."

Just looked up and smiled appreciatively at him and he looked down and gave her a wink. Both after that little exchange looked back at the phone...and Bonnie and Stu's expressions hadn't changed. Now Judy became concerned and James snapped his mouth shut with an audible clack. "Mom? Dad?"

Bonnie had no reaction to her daughter and just kept a thousand yard stare at Jameson. Stu other paw slowly pointed at Jameson and spluttered out, "f f ff ff ff fooox"

After that his eyes rolled into his head and he fell out of view with a thud. This snapped Bonnie out of her stupor and she looked down at her husband out cold on the ground and let out an exasperated "oh Stu."

Judy looked to the ceiling and let out an exasperated "really dad?"

Jameson's ears flattened to his skull and he immediately felt a little guilty. "Ah, I might have overdone it a little, a normal fox grinning would have been enough to shake them; let alone me."

Jameson went to apologize for scaring them and causing Mr. Hopps to faint but before he could, Mrs. Hopps apologized first. "*sighs, Mr. Wilde I apologize for my husband, he does this whenever he is overly frightened."

Judy looked up at Jameson and confirmed it. "It's true my dad's a fainter. Sneak up on him and poof to the floor he goes."

"Yes I can't count the number of times one of my children has snuck up on him and he fainted. Speaking of I should get him off of the kitchen floor."

Looking somewhere out of view Bonnie called out, "Daniel! Blake! Come get your father and put him on a couch!"

Jameson and Judy watched as two of her brothers who both resembled their father walked into frame, Jameson walked out of it when they did to go get his drink that he left in his bedroom. He didn't want to risk them doing the classic bunny freeze at the sight of him.

Daniel spoke up first, "dad fainted again? what was it this time?" He then looked at the phone and noticed his little sister Judy. "Hey sis! How's the city and the job?"

Judy smiled at him and replied "both are great, thanks."

Blake just nodded to the screen, then he put his paws on his hips and looked down at their father saying, "yeah what was it this time?"

Bonnie gestured to the phone and said "your sister is dining with a fox we thought was a bunny."

Blake put his ears down and crinkled his nose at the word fox and Daniel simply said "ah predator decided to say hello, he passes out, nice. Come on Blake lets get him up and out."

Daniel waved to his little sister before bending down and helping Blake lift him up, then they walked out of view Daniel calling out "later little sis!" As they left the frame Jameson strolled back into it retaking his place behind Judy drink in paw.

Bonnie did not notice that Jameson had left and came back and simply continued where she left off their conversation. "So Mr. Wilde while he is a fainter I must apologize nonetheless, it was rude. But, well.."

Jameson knew what she was trying to say. "I am completely and utterly not what you were expecting? I mean you don't expect your daughter straight from the farm to be dining with a fox, since judging by his reactions stereotypes of my kind are still in place at your household. Which if I am honest I would be more surprised if they weren't. Anyways, you were expecting a handsome buck, mostly because I yelled out at the top of my lungs a bunny alternative to cursing which I picked up living with bunnies. So surprise surprise when instead of a buck you see a disfigured yet roguishly handsome fox tod. Sorry to disappoint."

Bonnie just stared at him mortified and embarrassed. While she was going to say that she wasn't expecting him to be a fox, in her mind she had said as much as he did. For him to bluntly state what she was thinking about him being a fox made her feel like a bad mammal. "erm, um yes that about sums it up. But I am sorry, I shouldn't think ill of you or your intentions just, ehm."

Jameson was quite buzzed, and he hated specism, so his filter to be a little nicer about his next choice of words was off a little. "I think you meant to add 'just because you're a fox' after that. Which means you are still painting my species in a bad light as a whole. Which I totally get by the way, close knit country family, almost zero predators around, stereotypes formed generations ago and passed down. Who would blame you for continuing that outdated tradition? I mean, it is the general opinion of your entire community and probably about 85% of this country's population, maybe 90. It's not your fault that you've instilled a general fear and distaste for predators in your children, especially foxes. Its society that's to blame I am sure. Of course if you wisened up like your daughter here is trying at least to do we'd be in a much better place right about now and you'd be teaching your kits a valuable lesson, but who am I kidding? Like I said, it's tradition. Now if you'll excuse me I need to put away the leftovers, which was veggie casserole. Oh and I can see it in your eyes that you still doubt my intentions, well it's a dish I learned to make because the bunnies I mentioned I lived with was my wife and daughter. They're dead, both of them, I am a 32 year old widower that lost his life mate, Zoogle it if you don't get the significance of that."

After he was finished he downed the rest of his glass and walked out of frame and into the kitchen. Judy leaned up and turned to watch him go noticing his tail was swishing in aggravation, she watched as he began to passive aggressively put away the leftovers. After watching him for a few moments she turned back to face her mother, she didn't know where that outburst came from completely, and it was a little harsh, but Judy couldn't help feeling like he was justified in it.

Also what he said was true about what she was trying to do, grow out of her misguided specism, but Jameson's outburst at her mother was a wake up call that she had a long way to go. She realized that she had followed his brother Nick into that ice cream shop earlier in the day simply because he was a fox and she assumed that because he was a fox he was up to no good. Sure in the end it turned out he was running a hustle, but she tailed him because of his species and not because of his actions. " _For carrots sake look at me I am carrying a can of FoxAway spray in a FOXES apartment! I think i'm not specist like the rest of my family and trying to be better but I am just as bad, I haven't changed at all." Judy's ears drooped and she felt so ashamed at the revelation._

Finally focusing on her mother she noticed she wasn't doing any better. Her paw was covering her mouth, her ears were plastered to her back, and she was looking at the ground. It was a pretty huge revelation that Jameson had laid on her, and she realized everything he said had truth and raised questions on how she perceived certain things. This was something that needed some serious thinking on, and discussing with her husband.

And speaking of, Stu walked back into the kitchen rubbing the back of his head and looking at the ground, as he came closer he said "I did it again didn't Iii..." looking up he took in his wife and daughters expressions. "What's going on? What happened?"

…

Jameson when he heard Stu's voice he decided to tune back into the conversation. He sat down at the dining table with a fresh drink content to see and hear what was going to happen next. He was very aware he just gave Mrs. Hopps and Judy a rude wake up call about their behavior, he would have been gentler about it but he was drunk and his filter wasn't up to snuff as it was today as a result. Taking a sip he leaned back and tilted an ear to the couch.

…

Bonnie looked at her husband and removed her paw from her mouth, her ears stayed down though despite her best efforts.

She gave a small smile and replied "Yes, you did do it again, this time when James introduced himself as a fox. Which was very rude Stewart. I would say apologize but he is busy putting away the veggie casserole he had made. As to what's wrong, later Stu, later."

Stu felt embarrassed for passing out at the mere sight of James turning out to be a fox. He was also quite confused, he didn't understand why his wife and daughter looked so glum. Maybe they had gotten into an argument, but he couldn't know, he would just have to wait for his wife to tell him later. So he decided to push along and wrap the call with the subject it was originally supposed to be about.

"Well okay then, well it's getting late so we should start wrapping this up, so last thing. How was your first day on the force Jude?"

Bonnie perked up at that. She had completely forgotten that that was the original reason they had tried to call her in the first place. "Oh yes, BunBun how was your first day? Everything you hoped it would be?"

Judy during her parents little conversation with each other she was still berating herself in her head. But when her dad asked that question it snapped her back to reality and out of her mopey mood, but there was a problem. "There is absolutely no way I am going to tell them how it really went and that Bogo considers me Precinct One's very own meter maid. Especially with what mom said. So lying it is."

"It was pretty good, everyone was nice. Chief Bogo didn't have proper supplies ready for me yet so he assigned me to parking duty, he also wants me to learn the city in a safe environment without being too focused taking calls to learn the layout, plus I am not in the system yet."

Bonnie looked at her husband with glee at hearing that before looking back at the screen and saying, "well that's great BunBun, it's great that your boss is keeping your safety in mind."

Stu nodded in approval at his wife and said "yeah he sounds like a swell boss."

Judy put on a fake smile and replied with false cheer, "yeaahhh, he's great."

Bonnie and Stu were oblivious to her false cheer but decided it was time to wrap up the call. "Well BunBun we'll let you go now, it's getting late and i'm sure you got a big day tomorrow."

"yeah Jude, but make sure you answer your phone next time alright?"

Judy smiled for real this time and replied "you got it, bye! love you guys!"

Her parents both waved before disconnecting the call.

Jameson was leaned back in the dining table chair, left arm outstretched and resting on the table, his right cradled in front of him so his glass was right in front of his muzzle, his left leg was kicked out while his right was not. He kept his ears slightly lowered in a resting position but still tuned into the conversation Judy was having, but the slowly perked back up when Mr. Hopps had asked how Judy's first day was on the force. That had peaked his interest, other than her telling him about his little brothers entire hustle and what he said to her she didn't go into any other details. But as she started talking his eyes narrowed.

_"Doesn't have the proper supplies ready my furry red ass. The Mammal Inclusion Initiative has been active for a full year now. Chief Bogo has had all that time to get proper gear and supplies for smaller mammals coming onto the force, not to mention two weeks to get gear and supplies for Hopps alone. More like he's withholding the proper stuff. No tranq gun or lethal firearm, only one set of cuffs, that vest looks like its only med-large claw proof, maybe stab proof if the knife is dull, and the radio looks like it was 20 Zollars and bought at radio shack. If I had to guess Bogo is some old school cop who doesn't think small mammals can do the job, probably thinks Judy is some token bunny put in his precinct for PR. As a result he wants to make her quit by making her a meter maid and hassaling her at every step, therefore proving small mammals can't do the job. And not in the system? please. He was supposed to enter her in the second she was assigned to his precinct."_

…

Judy stared at the black screen for a second and her smile faded. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She then opened her eyes just in time to hear Jameson say, "I smell bullshit."

Judy's ears perked and she stood and walked around the couch to be facing Jameson, she gave him a confused look and said, "what did you say?"

Jameson leaned forward and put his drink on the table, and while staying leaned forward and said, "I'm sorry, I said, and no offense to Ms. Mathers who lives on the first floor, I smell bullshit."

Now Judy was getting a little mad at him and said "James what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the bullshit you just fed to your parents about your job and your chief, now why don't you take a seat and tell me the truth about it."

Judy went from a little mad to surprised and replied, "how did you know I was lying?"

"It was in your delivery and tone, plus your false cheer when your dad said Bogo sounded like a nice boss. So come on sit and tell me what really went down for your first day."

Judy now caught walked over to the table and took her same seat from dinner. Taking a deep breath she began to tell him what really happened for her first day on the force. It took about twenty minutes and when she was done she could tell James wasn't happy about it.

"Well, and no offense to Mrs. Coruthers that lives on the third floor, he sounds like a real jackass. I'm sorry for the predicament you are going through, but I'm sure it'll get better, all it takes is one moment and boom you get your validation."

Judy gave him a little smile at that and said "thanks James, you're probably right, but it's probably gonna be awhile. But I will grin and bear it in the meantime. Now I should get back to my apartment and hit the hay, gotta be up bright and early."

James nodded and stood along with Judy and replied "of course, well let me see you out."

Together they walked over to the door and James opened it. Judy looked at him and said "thanks for inviting me over for dinner James."

James waved a paw and replied "no problem Judy, anytime. Seriously, anytime. Feeling peckish and wanting to save your money just let me know, dinners always the same time at 9. Gives me a chance to challenge myself in the kitchen again."

Judy beamed a smile at him and said "That sounds great, thanks James, have a nice night."

James nodded and gave her a smile. "You to Judy, if you need anything just give me a holler anytime."

Judy just nodded to him and once he was finished he waved and then closed the door. Turning back James set a determined look and mentally said. _"That one moment is going to come sooner than you think Judy. Chief Bogo a storm is coming your way tomorrow and it's in the form of a red fox."_

His next course of action set he went to go get his laptop. He had some research to do.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Done! So this chapter was longer than the first since I did it have to change the second half at all. I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> So with this chapter we are now caught up to where the first version was when I clean slated it. That means the next chapter will not come out for weeks at least so prepare yourselves for that.
> 
> I have two other stories not tied to this one. A Father Figure and Red Hood: Origins. Feel free to check them out!
> 
> Next time on A True Brother! Jameson makes an important phone call!
> 
> Well that's all I had to say so until next time this is TheConcernedF0X signing off! See you then!


	3. A Call Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I accidentally lied!
> 
> So I was looking through my notes the other day and discovered this chapter. This one was in the process of writing when I decided to clean slate the story so it got left untouched and unfinished. Once I discovered it I ran it by my beta BrutusDeagon and my good friend NatNat64 and they said it was all still good. I took their word for it and finished the chapter. Big thanks to them!
> 
> This chapter comes with some huge revelations that were alluded to within the prologue about Jameson's past before Sarah. It also comes with a reveal of what Jameson's job is within Zootopia that will help Judy and Nick so much…but not to much.
> 
> A warning to those that did not read the prologue: a lot of this information will seem new or confusing and cause you to ask questions as it does not go into large detail. This is why I recommend you go and read the prologue.

Chapter 3: A Call Home

Jameson was tapping away at his laptop, a portable printer resting on the coffee table with several documents already printed and laying in an open file and next to that his phone. Judy had left his apartment half an hour ago and he had wasted no time using his credentials to access Judy's academy records and all of Bogo's records, including his academy records. So far he was quite amused looking at the results, he was going to enjoy using it tomorrow. He already had his plan in place for what he was going to do, this Chief Bogo would be furious and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

Gradually his tapping away slowed as he watched the clock on his laptop ticking closer and closer to 11. Once it hit 10:59 he put the laptop down on the table and picked up his phone, closing his eyes and trying to mentally prepare himself and pump himself up. What he was about to do would be extremely difficult and emotional for him, but if he didn't do it now he would clam up and not be able to do it at all. It has taken two years for him to build up his courage to make this call as it was. He had also made sure to stop drinking. He had planned to drink just enough to where he would be more loose and relaxed and as a result more loose lipped, and he knew if he drank anymore his words would start to slur and he didn't want that. He had already drank more than planned already and that had backfired and caused him to share way too much stuff with Judy than he should have. As the clock hit 11 he dialed a number he knew by heart, he was calling home.

…

Vivian Wilde was a vixen of habit, adhering to daily schedules without pause. At the age of 50 she didn't look a day over 35 despite having two kits, her first when she was only 18 with her then boyfriend, soon to be loving husband. She kept her young appearance through natural beauty, aging spectacularly well, and keeping her exercise regiment. Mondays thru Thursdays consisted of waking up a 6, a light breakfast at 7, out the door at 7:30, at her work as a pediatric surgeon at 8, work until 12 and then go for lunch until 1, work until 6, home at 6:30, change and eat a light snack at 7, leave at 7:30 to go to her gym, mixed martial arts from 8 to 10, and a light dinner at 10:30, then finally washing the dishes at 11, all times always on the dot exactly.

So this Monday was no different. Vivian was washing her plate from dinner with a sponge and humming a little tune to herself when her house phone started to ring. "That's strange, who could be calling at this hour?"

Turning the dish and sponge still in paw she looked towards the house phone and the number displayed on it. Not recognizing it she shrugged and said "whoever they are they can leave a voicemail, I'm busy and it's 11 o'clock at night." After a few more rings it went to voicemail.

*Hi this is Vivian Wilde, sorry I can't reach the phone right now. Please leave a message and I may call you back. *Beep.

_"Hey mom, it's me, it's your son, Jameson."_

The plate Vivian was holding fell from her paws and fell to the ground shattering on impact. Tears sprung into her eyes instantly and her paws shot to her mouth.

_"I...I know it's been a long, long time. heh, I know you're there though, it's 11 on a Monday so you're doing the dishes. If anything you're always a vixen of habit mom, I may have learned your daily schedule to best figure out the right time to call..."_

Vivian quickly got over her initial shock of hearing from her eldest son, she had not seen nor heard from him since he left home when he was only 16, and for 16 years that had remained, until today. She began rushing towards the phone but his voice stopped her.

_"But please don't answer the phone, please. If you do I will choke up and I'll never be able to get out what I need to say, it's taken me two years just to build up the courage to call you as it is. Just..just listen to what I am going to tell you. Because I am going to tell you what I have done these past sixteen years since I left home. But first I have some other things to say, if you want to sit down...now is a good time to do it."_

Jameson's tone as he spoke was sad and remorseful, and in truth he was. Vivian took the advice her son gave and shakily sat down in the closest chair and turned her body to face the answering machine.

_"The first thing I want to say is that I am so, so, sorry. I left you and my little brother, and I didn't even leave a note. But don't you DARE blame yourself for me leaving, you were, have been, and will always be the best mom a degenerate tod like me could have ever asked for. I left because you were struggling so badly to provide for us, and the world was just being so cruel, dad's killing, my beatings, the constant scrutiny.. I was just so very tired of it all. I didn't want to be a burden, I had cost so much money with my medical bills as it was. So in the dead of night I just...left."_

_"...and it's been shame, so much shame, pain, remorse, and fear that kept me from reaching out, re-connecting, just letting you know that I was alive! And I am so sorry for it. You may wonder why just leaving would cause me to feel this way, but it's not, it's just the tip of the iceberg. It's what I did and have done after I left that created these emotions so strong."_

_"After I left, in a couple of months I found a home at an old gym this old badger ran. He was a special forces vet and he took a liking to me, said I had serious potential and wanted to train me. I spent every day, 12 hours a day, for three years training in anything and everything combat related...I was tired of being hurt, and I made the decision to be the one to do the hurting for once."_

Vivian's heart became filled with dread. "Oh Jameson, no. no."

_"I had decided that I would hurt those who hurt me, almost killed me, beat me within an inch of my life when I was just a teenager. Those prey supremacist teens who beat me when I was 12 because I was a predator and for the beating I gave those kids that put that muzzle on and hit Nick...but they were all in prison, not for what they did to me of course, I am a fox after all. No they were in prison for a variety of things, mostly drug charges though. So I couldn't get to them the way I wanted, so I sent letters to predator supremacists outing them. None of them survived long after that. *long sigh*_

_"I can only imagine the horror you're feeling at this information, the disappointment...I wish I could tell you mom that that was it... but it wasn't. There was still the group of wolves that beat me within an inch of my life when I was fifteen. *deep sigh* I was in a dark place and they were next. I tracked them down, they were running a protection and extortion racket in Southside Happytown. There were the original six plus six more...and I killed them all with their own weapons."_

Vivian's paws clapped over her mouth and a wracked sob escaped her maw.

_*deep sigh* "I was so good at it I only took a three fingered claw swipe to my right ear. I left and went back to the attic above the gym, satisfied that I had gotten revenge, that I couldn't be beaten. I didn't get to take time to realize where my train of thought was leading me because *knock knocks* sounded on the shambly door…I knew it was the fuzz, ready to arrest me, take me in for murder…and I was ready. I wanted them too…I wanted to either get killed or spend my life in a cell…I was in that dark of a place mom. It was pitch black all around me. I didn't care._

_….As it turns out my assumption that it was the fuzz was only partially right. The CI fucking A had been watching the group because of their close ties to a gang in Serbia that was selling guns to terrorists. *sigh* They had seen everything and sent in a team, not to arrest me, but to bring me in. I went in prepared to be put in a federal prison, but next thing I know I'm being handed a cup of coffee and commended. They were impressed with what I had done, said that they would have sent in a three mammal team armed to the teeth to do what I had done."_

_*sigh and some scratching* "They wanted to test me, told me about the gang in Serbia, what they were doing, that they couldn't officially do something about them. Being in the place I was I casually said give me a couple of guns, some boxes of ammo, a few explosives, target information, and a first class plane ticket to Serbia and I would get it done...they gave all of it to me."_

Vivian just sat there, mouth covered and watery eyes as her eldest son kept going.

_"Next thing I know I'm in Serbia, it took two days to learn what I needed, target location, numbers, everything. On the third day I killed them all. thirty-two in total, including the leader. Strolled back to the private jet, flew back home. Limo is waiting for me and takes me back to the CIA headquarters. I walk into to shoulder pats, a job offer as a wetwork asset paying me millions, and a new nickname. Scythe, the weapon of death itself."_

_"A wetwork asset is basically a fancy way of saying I became an assassin, because I took the job. I basically became a government assassin, a ghost asset that no government would like to admit hiring. I went the places they couldn't go, did the things they couldn't do, and killed the mammals they weren't allowed to touch. I was damn good at it too. To them I was their ideal and go to operator, because I did the work of six mammals. Six mammal teams are always tricky and come with a lot of risk, but a single mammal? A fox at that? No one bats an eye and they don't realize the fatal mistake until it's too late... I was so damn good at it that in three years..I racked up 250 bodies."_

Vivian's heart for the first time since her eldest son began speaking felt horror at what she was being told. "No, Jameson, no no no. Why would you become this? No, please, please, tell me this is all. Please."

_*Deep sigh* "I honestly think the worst part of what I've told you, those six years...I was *ahem*... Mildly addicted to painkillers...*sigh* No. no, that's a lie. I was fully addicted to them. I was on them pretty much 24/7, I made sure to take the ones that still allowed me to function and just gave me that numb, get punched and won't feel it feeling. I was tired of feeling pain, I had already felt so very much. It was and has been my weakest and lowest point."_

Vivian was now practically bawling now. Her son had fallen, so hard. She yelled to the gods. "nononono! no! Why my son!? Why my sons!? Why my husband!? Why me!? What did we do to deserve all of this!? What did he do!?"

_*neck scratching* "Yeah, that's my low point. You'll be glad to know I broke the addiction at the beginning of the 7th year. It sucked at every step, but I had two very good reasons to break the addiction. Two very good reasons indeed."_

_I quit being an assassin mom, at the end of the third year, and it was because of love. I imprinted on a mammal in a week and didn't even realize it."_

Vivian's heart swelled with happiness and hope at that. "Oh my sweet kit, just like your father, fast to fall in love."

_"Before I continue, you need to know that the information I have told you and will tell you is of course extremely classified. I am only aloud to share this information with family, i.e you. But, regardless tomorrow a confidentiality agreement will be delivered to you, you HAVE to sign it. It in simplified terms is you can not share or speak about what I have told you to ANYONE, PERIOD. If you do a wetwork team will pay you a visit in the night, and that is not an exaggeration mom. A team will visit you and kill you, probably make it look like a failed home invasion. The government can not let it get out that it has employed and still employs mammals like me."_

_"This of course would mean I would have to show up, kill them, and save you. Then we would be on the run from the CIA and they don't do country boundaries. We would be hunted to the edges of the earth...I'm not trying to scare you mom, I just need you to understand the gravity of me sharing the information with you. Not to mention how imperative it is for you to sign the documents and adhere to them."_

Vivian stared at the phone with wide eyes, the tears had stopped but she wagered they were gonna start up again anytime. Her eldest son was putting her through a roller coaster of emotions for sure.

_"Now back to the reason I quit being an assassin...It was the end of year three of being an assassin, and I was sent into the tri-burrows to destroy a mammal trafficking operation. They were kidnapping female prey, mostly bunnies, and selling them as sex slaves. I was tasked with finding out who the leader and top lieutenants were, and where they were storing the taken females. Once I did I was to kill them and then call in the calvary to help free all of the taken females. It took a week but I finally found a pattern and exploited it."_

_"There was a male bunny that was the last mammal to see a handful of female bunnies. He was only token investigated because he was the mayor's son and therefore believed he could do no wrong. But I noticed that the son drove a red truck that was exactly the same as one I had spotted several times outside of high schools and bars. So I matched the vin, identified that it was indeed the son scoping out the places. So one night I casually climbed into his truck and waited for him while he went into one of the bars he'd been scouting, hours go by and he finally comes out a female bunny on his arm. I could tell she had been drugged, so when they climbed in I introduced myself."_

_"He spilled the beans pretty quickly after that and I spilled his blood onto the floor, made it look like a carjacking/robbery gone wrong. The poor doe was so roofied she couldn't even formulate words but she heard and understood his confession, what he had planned to do with her. Have some fun and then take her to a big abandoned warehouse that served at their depot and paw her over. I got her out and drove her to the hospital, told them I was a concerned citizen that had seen a buck slip something in her drink and when I called it out he ran. Also said I didn't have a phone to call them so I brought her here. Then I left, she would be taken care of and I had what I needed."_

Vivian, despite hearing the details of what he did to that terrible buck, couldn't help a little smile at hearing what he did for that doe. "good boy."

_"The next day I relayed the information to the back up team. That buck had also told me the number of bad guys there and that at midnight they were gonna move over 60 kidnapped females, with so much at stake I wasn't about to risk them. I would do my part but as soon as I did the cavalry would come pouring in. The operation was so much bigger than originally thought so we had to reach out to the FBI and they sent out a Fast-action Elite Tactical Response Unit, F.E.T.R.U. From Zootopia, it's the FBI's most elite SWAT team, every branch has one, but the ZBI's is top of the top. F.E.T.R.U plans fast and hit hard, and they take all of the high risk FBI raids as well as terrorist attacks and high risk hostage situations. I explain them in such detail because it's important for later."_

_"Back on topic now, the ZBI F.E.T.R.U arrived at noon, I briefed them and my clean up team on the situation and laid down the plans, they needed time to prep and move into their positions so I left to gear up. Once I was geared up I moved up the warehouse and infiltrated it from an open window at the top, settled myself in the rafters in the middle of the warehouse. Once I was there I started to learn the patterns, the layout, and locate the mammal in charge and his three lieutenants. The taken females were spread out all over the warehouse in cages, one small one being right under me, there were also crates and stacks everywhere."_

_"I was almost prepared, almost ready to pull the trigger…then I just had to look down one more time ...And there she was…hmmm before I go further I should drop this bombshell, I'm an inter. Other foxes don't attract me….I also have a…erm, preference for bunnies…so yeah there's that."_

Vivian had absolutely no clue how to react to that bit of news. She was surprised and shocked sure, but that was pretty much the theme of today it would seem. So instead she kept on listening in.

_"Anyways so back on topic. There she was, the most beautiful doe I had ever laid my eyes upon. She was a light brown bunny doe with the most gorgeous blue eyes…and she was pregnant. I didn't understand why a pregnant doe would here, it wasn't their M.O. They were scum of the earth but the leader had only two rules, no pregnant girls and no kids._

_She, she was so scared. I could tell even from up above she was utterly terrified and I couldn't stop looking at her. I felt something I had never felt before deep in my core…in my soul. I had this urge to protect her, shield her, get her the fuck out there and somewhere safe._

_Then I discovered why she was here. The leader's eldest son, a real sleaze ball and piece of work had impregnated her. His M.O was to date a doe for a while, fool around, and then take them when they finally got comfortable. He was talking to a few of his friends telling them what happened right in front of her. He fucked up and knocked her up, and he hated her for it._

_He hated her for it because daddy was gonna make him marry her no matter what. She would be trapped in this nightmare…then he struck her when she tried to say something…and something in me snapped. I dropped from the rafters pulling out a sword I would use occasionally as I fell._

_When I landed I cut the son of a bitch in half and killed his friends and the surrounding mammals. That put me face to face with her for the very first time, and even then in those circumstances when our eyes met something sparked. I put my face guard up and she saw my face for the first time, and she wasn't scared even after what I had just done…she was…mesmerized by me._

_She had grown up learning and seeing that prey mammals bunnies were so much more evil than predators and foxes around her. So she wasn't scared but relieved when I landed in front of her. I didn't even say anything, I found I couldn't, I was speechless. So I just offered her a paw…she didn't even hesitate to take it and I took her and scooped her up in my arms. I carried her bridal style and called in the cavalry early as I ran._

_I shielded her with my body and kept her safe until I reached a safe space, a small square area completely surrounded by crates, only a few gaps. We took shelter there and I stayed over her as I fired on enemies. Finally help sweeped in and it was over, the second I saw my mammals I looked down at her, checking her all over and I spoke to her for the first time. I said 'are you okay?'_

_She could have said anything, there were several I was guessing she would. 'Who are you, get off of me, get away from me.' I was also imagining some slurs…instead she said 'are you?' Mom when she spoke my heart skipped a beat. I swear I realized I was in love right then and there and I had heard the voice of an angel….I asked her name…it was Sarah._

_Fast forward three months, I'm in love, she's in love, we're dating. We decided to go bunny speed for dating and everything, I didn't care. For the first time in my life I was in love and happy. She got me to kick the painkillers and with her support I was able to do it. Fast forward another 3 months, her daughter is born, Rachel and I proposed to Sarah that same day. She said yes and I claimed Rachel as my daughter, thank the gods she took only after her mother._

Vivian couldn't believe what she was hearing, and her heart felt like it would melt. "Oh my sweet kit. I can't wait to meet them. You definitely take after your father in the romance department."

_"Her parents didn't approve...and I was too much of a coward to call you and reconnect…so the wedding was small and private. I left the dark agent life and became a CIA Analyst and Strategist, bought a small secluded farm behind a small forest, and spent the next eight years living in the purest bliss….then in one moment it was all taken away from me."_

Dread filled Vivians heart completely and her paws went back to her mouth "oh no."

_"Because I shifted the plan to save Sarah some mammals got away that day, and they never forgot or forgave. They found us. They attempted to kill me once, rigged the water heater at the farm. It exploded and left me with some blemishes, but I lived. Well I guess they got tired of playing it safe and plotting and planning. Because the next year they launched their attack on the farm. I was at work on a day I wasn't supposed to be, I got called in. I left two CIA guards we kept because of mammals escaping that day in charge, but they were slain. Hacked to death with machetes._

_Sarah and Rachel barricaded themselves inside, the farm had no cell service and the mammals had disconnected the house phone. So they couldn't call for help….they set the house ablaze and awaited to watch them burn._

_I came home to my home in an inferno, I rushed towards it screaming their names but I heard nothing…then I was ambushed. The mammals were still there so they attacked me. I killed them, but not before getting critically injured….I passed out from blood loss before I could reach the house...and Sarah and Rachel perished from smoke affixation."_

Vivian was sobbing at this point and Jameson was crying. She couldn't even begin to imagine, she lost just her husband…but her eldest son had lost his wife and daughter…it was a miracle he was still alive…

_"I awoke in the hospital a week later…ah fast forward and I'm trying to kill myself, skip the whole death by heartbreak just so I could be with my two does again. But just when I was about to pull the trigger I remembered a promise and vow I made to my wife and daughter. That if they were to die well before me…that I would move on. That I would go and find new love, live for them instead of die, start over, and go home and reconnect with you and Nick._

_I kept that promise in my heart and it saved me. Now that's what I'm trying to do. I buried them and then moved to Zootropolis, I joined the FBI having resigned from the CIA, made Swat and Counter Terrorism, rose through the ranks and made Captain. I stayed there for two years until the Zootopia branch came to me with a job offer the Mammal Inclusion Initiative opening new doors. Remember ZBI SWAT F.E.T.R.U? Well their captain retired and he recommended me, and the director offered me the job. Well I took it._

_I've been here for a year now, and I just now gathered up the courage to make this call. I didn't even consider it in the first year but now I felt I was ready…I'm…I'm trying mom..really I am…but it hurts so much..but I have to keep moving for them…I couldn't dare face you in the flesh and say all of this…I'm not strong enough. But now I think…if you want to, I can see you again…I can be your son again... I can reconnect…but only if you me want to…..I would completely understand after hearing all of this if you don't want to…but..if you do…this is my number…so give me a call. If you call during the day don't be surprised if it goes to voicemail, I'll be at work…I love you mom. Goodbye."_

At that Jameson hung up his phone and leaned back into the couch a arm over his eyes. He could only hope his mom would want to reconnect with him. But he wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. Resigned to wait and see and mentally drained Jameson stood to go get some more whiskey, then he would finish gathering all of the info he needed to rain hellfire on a certain water buffalo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> So NOW we are fully caught up to where the story stopped out so now updates will be at the normal pace.
> 
> So as I said a lot of revelations were had this chapter and I hope they go over well. Jameson really went off the deep end, same as Nick just in a different pool. I will say it now that Jameson is in no way here to demean Nick and make what he went through he insignificant and small. Nick did not just go through the muzzle incident as it will be revealed later on the story. But at the same time Nick always gets the short end of the stick in people's story's, so this time I gave it to someone else. It will be a delicate balance I know.
> 
> So that's all I had. Next time on A True Brother! Jameson tears Bogo a new one with the information he's gathered and gets Judy the gear she needs and the opportunity to be a real cop!
> 
> So until then this is TheConcernedF0X signing off! See you next time!


	4. Surprise! I’m a federal agent!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! Surprise! It’s another chapter of ATB!   
> I am really into this story as it is my first set in the plot of the movie AND with Wildehopps as main characters! So until I lose that spark or people demand I write for one of my other two stories I think I’ll be sticking with this one!   
> DISCLAIMER: It would appear there might be some confusion over Jamesons role in this story. His role is SECONDARY. He is a secondary main character along side Wildehopps. I have a Associates Degree in Criminal Justice and am working towards a Bachelor's. Law enforcement is going to be my career. Considering this movie was a "cop" movie, there was a severe lack of actual police procedural. And Judy did things NOT suitable as a cop. I get that this is a kids movie but it bothers me. For example, using a MOB BOSS to threaten a suspect into confessing with the threat of MURDER. Among many other things. Jamesons role is to amend those severe lack of actual police procedural moments. Making Judy in proxy operate like a REAL COP. This in no means alters the course of the plot nor will diminishes its entertainment. This way instead of getting a brief summary or skip over of a scene because it’s exactly the same as the movie you get to see new dialogue and such. 
> 
> Hey. Hey. Hey! HEY! Why don’t I have any comments on the story yet!?

Chapter 4: Surprise! I’m a federal agent!

_Life to fix-The Record Company_

Two alarms went off went off at the exact same time at 5:30 am, one your standard alarm and the other playing a song. A overly optimistic bunny hopped over to her alarm already wide awake and wearing clothes for her daily workout routine including a good run. A broken fox opened his eyes with a grunt before rolling off the couch he had passed out on and landing in the push up position wearing only his boxers, starting push ups in the speed of the rhythm of the song. Next the overly optimistic bunny is stretching preparing for her run. Meanwhile the broken fox is doing crunches as a new song plays. Next the bunny is in a full run while listening to her Icarrot pod while the fox is sending a flurry of kicks and punches into a punching bag.

…

Once Jameson’s workout was over he went over to his phone and shut off the alarm right as the tenth song in his alarm loop ended. He had his morning workouts down to a t, always letting his alarm play ten songs of increasing length. Once the tenth song ended his daily morning workout would be over and then he could take care of breakfast and hygiene.

But before he tended to those to matters he walked back over to his couch and collected his clothes from the day before and put them in the laundry. Then he came back and picked up all of the files and information he had gathered for the day, sorted them in the order he would bring up, and then put them in his bag. Finally he grabbed the empty bottle of Wilde Whiskey and deposited it in the recycling bin.

Jameson after he had finished the phone call with his mom went back to drinking, finishing the bottle within two hours. The call had been taxing on him drawing up all of his painful and dark memories so he drowned them back again as best he could. Once the bottle was gone and his readership was gone only then did he strip down to his boxers and pass out, only getting two hours of sleep.

Two hours of sleep was his usual. If Jameson slept anywhere past that dead drunk or not, he would be plagued by nightmares. His therapist was trying to help him get past it but it was very slow progress. Since Jameson only gets two hours of sleep, often times he would wake out mildly buzzed or intoxicated. But he didn’t mind, strong black coffee, a good breakfast, and a nice luge warm shower was all he needed to completely sober up.

So that was his next step. Jameson got a pot of coffee started and pulled out some chicken to fry and then began making waffle batter. Once the meal was prepped James then grabbed a mug and the pot of coffee and poured some of the black goodness in it and savored the smell. Then get grabbed his raspberry flavoring and added just a drop to give the coffee a little sweet raspberry after flavor. Coffee now ready Jameson took a nice sip and let out a content sigh as the elixir of life flowed through him.

Setting the mug back down Jameson went ahead and started on the waffles, and leaving enough batter left for tomorrow. Halfway through the waffles being done Jameson went ahead and dropped the chicken in the fryer to fry up nice and good. Then once both chicken and waffles were ready he got a plate and dished up. Three waffles and two pieces of fried chicken, all that was left was for Jameson to butter the waffles and cover them and the chicken in some maple syrup which he did. Then his breakfast all cooked up he took a seat at the island and began to eat with gusto, only pausing for a sip of coffee.

…..

Judy got back from her run and workout at 6:30 as planned and then gathered all of her toiletries and her uniform, ridiculous hat and orange vest included. First thing she would do though is get some breakfast. Reaching into her suitcase Judy pulled out a granola bar and looked at it in distaste, after the amazing dinner she had last night a less than mediocre breakfast wasn’t very appealing.

She briefly pondered going over to Jameson’s apartment and seeing if he was cooking up breakfast but quickly decided against it. She only just met Jameson and she didn’t want to mooch off of him, she was trying to be an independent doe…but it mostly boiled down to him only mentioning she could come over for dinner anytime. So she opened up the granola bar and took a crunchy bite.

As she used her buck teeth to destroy the stupidly hard granola bar Judy thought about what happened last night. It was all completely unexpected and out of the blue honestly. The odds that one of her neighbors would not only invite her to dinner accurately guessing that she was new to the city but also be a fox that was once married to a bunny and had a bunny daughter….that was ALSO the older brother of the fox that had hustled her earlier that day was practically astronomically impossible! Yet it all happened! The universe really did like playing with her.

Then there was the general events of the night. James revealing he had been married to a bunny had been a particular shock, one she hadn’t known how to process at the time. Now that she had some time to think on it personally she found no issue with it, it was odd sure and unorthodox, and she could never see herself dating a predator, but she believed love was blind. Now when it came to dating a different species prey mammal…she wouldn’t mind actually trying it. Male bunnies were either intimidated by her or thought her dreams were a joke, and she was quite frankly tired of it.

Then there was the fact that Jameson’s story was a tragic one. Serious injuries, one crippling his left leg and the other leaving a nasty scar all along the right side of his muzzle and ending on his cheek. Losing his wife and daughter to an arson murder, which she still couldn’t even imagine, but she decided she would check police records when she got access to them to see if the mammals that did it were ever caught. She didn’t want to ask James in case he said no, she didn’t want to remind him of the fact if that was the case.

Not to forget what he said her mom and how he completely deciphered that she was lying about how her first day went. She still didn’t know where exactly his words towards her mom came from, but she still felt it was completely justified because it was completely true, her family had a backwards attitude towards predators, especially foxes. Not to mention the fact that as much as she pretended otherwise she still was too.

Picking up her utility belt Judy pulled out the fox away spray and looked at it with disgust. She had been prepared, willing, and ready to spray Nick Wilde with it simply because he was a fox that looked shady. Then she wiling carried it into a foxes apartment! She really was no better than the rest of her family… But she was going to change that, starting with throwing the fox away spray in the trash. Which she did promptly before grabbing the rest of her stuff and heading to the communal bathroom.

Making her way to it she opened the door and walked in to discover something. Every single shower stall and bathroom stall was full, and every mirror taken with females brushing their teeth and putting on makeup. Judy didn’t even bother asking anyone if they would be done so she just spun around and walked back out. _“Darn it! I guess I’ll have to cut my workouts down on Tuesdays. Ugh I’m going to smell! Bunnies always have this morning odor! Even if I put on a bunch of deodorant, perfume, and stop at a store and my some scent concealing spray I’ll still smell! I don’t wanna snow up to work with this stench! This is why bunnies always have to shower in the morning! And my workout adds to it!”_

Bunnies naturally carried a…potent sent in the mornings that was often unpleasant to them, and other mammals. It was more or less their actual scent For this reason most bunnies, especially females, made sure to shower in the morning to get rid of the smell. Judy was dreading having to deal with her new coworkers adding ‘she smells’ to the reasons not to like her.

Then she remembered something James had said last night “ _If you need anything just give me a holler anytime.”_

Judy didn’t want to have to lean on her new neighbor like this or ask if she could use his shower. But, he had been married to a bunny and had a bunny daughter so he would more than likely understand her situation. Hopeful that Jameson would help her out she made her way over to his door.

….

Jameson had just exited his bathroom after showering a towel around his waist and a smaller towel in his paws as he dried his head and ears. Jameson walked towards the kitchen intent on pouring another coffee before going and changing when there was a knock on his door. Pausing mid step James laid the smaller towel on his shoulders and went to the door. Looking through his peep hole James saw the two black tipped ears as a bunny.

Quickly unlocking it Jameson cracked the door open just enough so Judy would see just his head. Tilting his head at her he asked “Hey Judy, what’s up?”

Judy smiled up at him and replied “good morning James, I hate to bother you but can I ask a favor?”:

“Sure whatcha need?”

Judy looked at him a little sheepishly and asked, “can I use your shower? The communal bathroom is completely packed full and I realllly need a shower.”

Of the things James imagined she would ask as a favor, a shower was not among them. But, he got it. When Sarah and Rachel were still alive he had to shower at night because it was a no go in the mornings because they had to get rid of the morning scent as the called it. It was a pungent smell that many bunnies were self conscious about.

Jameson shifted the towel on his shoulders to cover up the scar on his left shoulder and the tattoo of the mark of Karma on his right shoulder and upper bicep. Then he replied “yeah sure, I get why you’re asking. Come on in.”

Judy thanked her lucky stars James understood as he opened up the door all the way for her to enter. “Thank so so much…OH MY GOD YOU’RE NAKED!”

Judy immediately averted her eyes from James. Sure he had a towel around his waist, but that was it! James let out a snort of amusement and replied “I am wearing a towel you know, I’m at best shirtless. I had just got out of the bathroom when you knocked on the door. You can close your eyes if it helps and I’ll guide you to the bathroom. I’ll be your seeing eye fox.”

Judy couldn’t help but let out a snort of her own at his joke and then forced herself to look over at him getting over her initial shock. “No its fine you just shocked me. You should warn mammals you know!”

James nodded and replied “that’s fair. My bad. Bathroom is straight ahead down the hall as you know.”

Judy nodded and said “thank you so much for this.” Before walking past Jameson and towards the bathroom. As she did she had to admit…James wasn’t all that bad looking. He was astronomically different looking than any fox she had scene, but then again Gideon Grey was basically her only reference point. Sure he had the nicks in his ear, the blinded appearance of his left eye, and the bad scar along the right side of his muzzle. But James had a defined and lean muscle structure, a visible six pack, and soft and fluffy cream fur on his chest. He was definitely physically fit.

But the most interesting thing that she saw was the mark of serendipity fur dyed tattooed over his heart with two stars in the top right of it. She wondered if she could ask about it’s meaning, Jameson had said he wasn’t religious. Then the two stars was a different question on its meaning, they weren’t traditionally part of the mark of serendipity.

Jameson made sure as she walked by him he kept his back out of sight. She didn’t need to see the menacing full back scythe tattoo. That would just make her ask questions that he didn’t want to give lies as answers. She already was bond to ask about the mark of serendipity and the two stars added onto it, he was fine with her asking about that one.

James waited until Judy was in the bathroom and the door was shut before going into his bedroom to get changed. Once inside James shut the door and locked it, then he simply dropped the towel around his waist and tossed the towel over his shoulders onto his bed. Strolling over to his closest James opened both sides and hit the light switch illuminating both sides of the closet.

On the right half of the closet was all of his clothes, mostly formal like, only a few casual outfits being in there. James preferred to wear nice clothes, they looked nice and they made him feel nice. The left side of the closet contained his personal armory/collection. The top portion had 4 assault rifles, a lever action, and two sniper rifles. The middle portion contained six pistols, all 1911s, two tazers, and six tranquilizer guns, their ammo and magazines sitting just under them. The bottom portion just contained extra gear like a bean bag and taser round shotgun, ammo, and some assorted weapons.

Being a part of ZBI F.E.T.R.U meant he had to be ready to answer a call at any time, including when he wasn’t technically on duty. For that reason he and all other F.E.T.R.U members needed to keep extra gear and weapons at their homes just in case they were needed. There was only two F.E.T.R.U teams, the unit itself contained two dozen members, one team of 12 always on duty. But there were situations were all 2 dozen members were needed. They were also given their own fast cruisers to arrive either on scene or at ZBI headquarters when called in, whichever one was closer.

Since Jameson was going to have to stay at the headquarters for the next 48 hours he would dress full formal adding a suit jacket and cuff links. This was the deal he had made, if his brace malfunctioned he would be on desk duty for 48 hours, and if it didn’t fail he could resume normal duties. With a injury such as his he really shouldn’t even be going into the field, but he was a stubborn fox so it didn’t stop him. The director tried to make him stop but he was persistent, so she let him do it with this condition so she felt better about it.

Perusing through his clothing Jameson finally made a selection. First he put on some dark red boxers followed by black slacks. Then he put on a black silk long sleeve button up shirt and a blood red tie. Next he put on a blood red silk vest and grabbed a pair of reinforced black dress shoes. After that he grabbed a black belt and put it on and then he moved over to his weapons and perused that selection. Making his decision and undoing his belt James put a simple polymer holster on his right hip and a three magazine holder above his left back pocket. James then grabbed and put on a left shoulder holster that had a two magazine holder attached to it, and on his right shoulder a pouch for two sets of small-med large paw cuffs.

Next up Jameson grabbed a black kimber 1911 and loaded a mag, chambered a round, clicked the safety on, and then holster it on his hip. Then James grabbed a long barrel silver tranquilizer gun equipped with a short scope and put a mag filled with ten small-med large darts in it. James pulled the slide back charging it with CO2 making it ready to fire, satisfied he put it in the shoulder holster and grabbed two additional mags.

Now satisfied James had one more thing to do before he put his suit jacket on. Walking over to his nightstand James picked up his ZBI badge and ran a finger across its surface. The top portion of the badge was blue, the letter ZBI inscribed on it in gold. The bottom of the badge marked him as a Captain within a blue banner. Then in the center of the badge was several blue rings with gold lettering. The first ring was The United Mammilian States, the second ring was the FBI’s/ZBI’s motto: Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity. The third ring was Fast-action Elite Tactical Response Unit. The very center of the badge was an inner circle split in half, the top said S.W.A.T and the bottom portion was the rank symbol for Captain.

This badge identified everything he was within the ZBI. All it took was one look at it and mammals knew exactly what and who he was. A Zootopian Bureau of Investigations Special Weapons and Tactics, Fast-action Elite Tactical Response Unit Division Captain. It was a mouthful for sure, thank the gods for acronyms, he only had to spit out the entire official title in formal situations.

James smiled softly at the badge and said, “I bet your proud of this accomplishment Sarah… I think I am. It at least puts me closer to mom and Nick just like you wanted me to do.”

Jameson undid his belt and slipped his badge on, positioning it above his left leg. James then walked back over to his closet and grabbed the suit jacket and put it on leaving it open temporarily. He then walked over to his full body mirror and took a look at him self, satisfied James closed his closet and buttoned the three buttons of the jacket and was about to exit the room when he remembered something. Reopening the closet James grabbed a set of cufflinks, dark red ruby scythes, and put them on quickly before grabbing and pocketing his cellphone then exiting his room.

…

Judy exited the bathroom refreshed, clean, and good smelling dressed in her uniform, stupid vest and hat sadly included. Judy walked into Jameson’s living/kitchen and saw him at his kitchen island sipping on a cup of coffee. He was dressed in a very nice suit and when he noticed her a mischievous smirk formed on his lips. Judy quickly pointed at him and said “unless you want both your legs to be crippled don’t say what your thinking of saying!”

James let out a bark of laughter at that and replied “hey I was married to a bunny remember I know the C word is a no go! I was just going to call you…”

Judy took a mock dangerous tone and said “your still in kicking range.”

James put both his paws up and replied “okay okay I yield! You’re a mean bunny.”

Judy hummed at him as she walked to the island and said “and you’re a mischievous fox.”

James nodded to that and said “fair point. I would offer you coffee but since it could make your heart explode I’ll instead ask if you want some carrot juice.”

Judy looked at the clock on James oven and noted the time 6:45, she had plenty of time. Roll call was at 8 and it took half an hour to get there using the trains thanks to the many stops. So ideally she could stay until 7:15, so she gave him a smile and said “that would be great thanks.”

James nodded and promptly got her a glass and filled it with the carrot juice before sliding it across the Islas and into her paw. Judy caught it and took a few sips when her stomach, as if sensing it was in a place with food let out a small yet audible growl. Judy’s face immediately warmed up in embarrassment and while James was tempted to poke fun at her he instead asked, “Judy have you eaten anything for breakfast?”

Judy wanted to look down at her stomach and curse at it but instead she said “yes, just a granola bar. I can’t exactly afford breakfast yet.”

Jameson shook his head at that and replied “well that simply won’t do, not why I’m around. I get your trying to be an independent doe and all and this is your third day away from home but starving yourself isn’t going to really help you prove that point. So sit down, I’m making you some waffles.”

Judy was going to reject the waffles but her stomach growling at her and a look from James told her not to. So instead she took as seat as James pulled out the waffle batter and turned his waffle maker back on. He quickly made her three waffles and stacked them on a plate and put them down in front of her, then he grabbed silver ware, the butter, and syrup and placed them all in front of her. Pointing to the waffles he said “eat.” As he crossed his arms.

Judy had to admit, in that moment James reminded her of some of her older brothers always looking out for her well being. He actually really reminded her of her older brother Daniel, Daniel had always looked out for her and supported her dreams just like their sister Julie. In fact in a lot of aspects James was acting like a big brother, it was endearing. So without further delay Judy buttered up the waffles, doused them in syrup, and was about to take a bite when she realized James hadn’t made any for himself. “Aren’t you gonna eat James?”

James gave her a smile and replied “no I ate earlier so I’m good. That’s why I had batter on paw, so dig in. I’ll just keep drinking my coffee.” Judy simply nodded at that and dug in.

…

James and Judy has passed the time as Judy age with pleasant conversation, mostly focused on Judys childhood, why she had wanted to become a cop, and did she really have 275 siblings. When she had confirmed that she indeed did have 275 siblings she swore she could see James go pale as he exclaimed “your poor mother!” That had got her laughing good.

When it came time for her to leave to go to work James had nodded and said he needed to get going to, so they decided to walk out together. James went and grabbed his satchel bag, his sunglasses, and then grabbed a different cane than from yesterday. This one was made of dark red cherry wood with a gold ring on the handle and then they exited his apartment together. They both paused to look their apartment doors and then they descended the stairs together still chatting.

Once they exited the building though and Judy was about to bid him farewell James threw her a bit of a curve ball. “So hey Judy. I actually have a bit of business to take care of at Precinct One, so why don’t I just drive you to work? No point for you to take the trains if we’re going the same place.”

Judy hadn’t expected that at all. James hadn’t mentioned he was heading to precinct one before, but she wasn’t about to say no. “Sure why not. Thanks James.”

James just nodded in acknowledgement at that and they began walking across the street Judy beginning to ask “so what type of business do you have at…”

Her words died on her lips when James hit his key fob and a Dodge Challenger with a bumper guard, sirens, and markings on the panel and doors saying ZBI F.E.T.R.U, Fidelity. Bravery. Integrity. Lit up and turned on its engine roaring to life….and Judy’s mind exploded. Her jaw dropped and she pointed to the cruiser and then slowly pointed to James who at this point had a wide grin on his mouth. Undoing the buttons of his suit jacket James moved the left part aside showing her his badge, the sun catching it and adding a little shine.

Judy’s mind exploded again. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water and than finally managed to get out “you’re. You’re. You’re.”

James was dying of laughter on the inside but only chuckled on the outside answering what Judy was attempting to say. “Yes Judy I am an agent of the Zootopian Bureau of Investigation. I started out in the FBI in Zootropolis about two years ago in SWAT and Counter Terrorism, I transferred here to Zootopia last year as Captain of ZBI’s F.E.T.R.U division. Before I got my start in the FBI I was a CIA analyst and strategist. I know this is a lot, but it is what it is.”

Judy tried to process all of this information she had just been given, and so far there was one thing she could think to say. “Why didn’t you mention this last night! You only said you were a silent partner slash founder of Wilde Whiskey!”

Jameson nodded to that and replied “true no I didn’t tell you I was in the ZBI, but then again you never asked if that’s all I did. You just assumed. I probably should have told you when we were discussing your first day on the job but I didn’t want to hit you with that and then take away from your moment. I’ll explain more and answer all your questions but we need to get going unless you want to be late.”

Judy checked her phone and realized he was right so she nodded and climbed in the passenger seat, adjusting it so she could see out the windows and such. James got in the drivers seat and put the cruiser in drive beginning the route to Precinct One. They sat in silence for about a minute before Judy accepted the explanation he had gave and then asked the first question that came to mind. “James, what’s FETRU mean? I’ve never heard of it before.”

James looked at her in mild surprise and said “really? Well it means Fast-action Elite Tactical Response Unit. FETRU is a divison of Special Weapons and Tactics, we are the elite. We are the best of the best and what we do differs from regular SWAT. Where SWAT executes raids on warrants and pre plans everything FETRU handles the things that come out of the blue or are high risk. We plan on the fly and it requires lighting fast thinking and preparation. We handle high risk hostage situations, terrorist attacks, and advanced raids. If a SWAT team is needed fast FETRU gets the call. If an agent obtains a warrant and it’s a needs to happen now type raid we get called in for that too. If there’s a raid that is very high risk SWAT will allocate it to us as well. That’s what FETRU does and is.”

Judy looked at Jameson was just a tinge of awe as she said “that’s actually pretty cool James.”

James nodded once at that and replied “yeah I think so too.”

But then something occurred to Judy that she had to voice “but wait, you said you’ve been in the FBI for three years, and was in the CIA before that. How is that even possible?”

James nodded a few times and said “Judy as much as Zootopia likes to project its self as the shining jewel of this country for species equality and what not they are much more behind the curb than you think. You see in Zootropolis something similar to the MII was enacted THREE YEARS ago integrating smaller mammals into job facets originally deemed to small for. Three years Judy, it took Zootopia three years to join its sister city into integrating smaller mammals. When Zootropolis did this the news didn’t even leave the eastern seaboard. Everyone’s eyes are always on Zootopia as a shining jewel…but it’s really not. Look deeper Judy and you’ll see that, you’ll see what I see, the cracks. Just give it some time.”

Judy didn’t know what to say to that, or think. James little speech had gotten dark fast. She didn’t know where it came from but she could tell James was serious about it. But Judy put all that aside as she pulled out her phone and quickly went to zoogle to see if what James said was true. A single search later she found out the truth. James wasn’t lying, three years ago Zootropolis had enacted the Equal Opportunity Act, which was just like the Mammal Inclusion Initiative. It was really surprising to her, and kind of depressing. Maybe Zootopia really wasn’t all she thought it was, she could have been a cop much sooner if she had just expanded her horizons.

James sensed Judy’s turn down in mood and frowned a little. “ _I may have laid it down a bit thick for this bunny of optimism. Curse my pessimistic ways.”_

James decided to salvage the situation with his next line. “Ah I’m sorry Judy, don’t let my pessimism get to you. I have a lot of unpleasant memories here in Zootopia, more so than in Zootropolis. Zootopia is still ahead of the curb on a lot of things. Better predator prey ratio, more advanced climate system, more bunnies, slightly better predator integration. Oh and even though the EOA has been in effect for three years no bunnies have joined the academy there, they are discouraged from applying and those that have were rejected. Other smaller mammals have made it in, but not bunnies. Odds are they wouldn’t have let you in. I can’t say why it’s like that.”

That took Judy out of her downed mood replacing it with curiosity to ask questions again. “It’s okay James, your just helping me open my eyes more. Least I think you are. But that’s really weird. Sounds like pure discrimination to me.”

“It is discrimination. Last time I checked several lawsuits were being launched.”

Judy nodded and simply replied “good.”

They rode in silence for a few more minutes before a question she couldn’t believe she hadn’t asked yet. “Wait a minute. How come you being a fox in law enforcement was never on the news? That’s huge! Being the first bunny cop plastered my face all over TV for like a week!”

James chuckled at that figuring this question would come up. “Oh well there’s the fact that federal agencies don’t to size restrictions for the most part. It’s different branch to branch and agency to agency and going off our directors. I was able to join the CIA and make it through because they CIA period uses no size restrictions at all, it can’t afford too. Though certain sizes are limited to certain roles. For the FBI it’s a real mixed basket, often times going off available species in that state for recruitment. There’s a higher concentration of foxes in Zootropolis so the FBI branch there allowed them to enter. Here in Zootopia it went off the MII and the new director allowing us in. But that’s besides the fact that me a fox being a ZBI agent isn’t really a big deal at all. The first fox cop here for example will be astronomically more of a big deal than me.”

Judy came him an “are you serious?” Look not agreeing with his last statement at all. “Are you serious? No way. You’re a fox federal agent! A fox cop is nothing and would be compared to you!”

James shook his head once and said “no not really. Judy I’m not even the first fox here in the ZBI, I’m the third. The first is a female arctic fox who’s the assistant DIRECTOR of the ZBI and she hasn’t been on the news ONCE and the media knows she is. The second is a male fox in the Gang Divison. We’ve all been here for a year now Judy, the assistant director of the ZBI is a fox and that didn’t make the news. But when you became a cop as you said you were on the news for like a week.”

Judy absorbed what James said and it was kind of starting to make sense. So James drove the point home. “Judy the reason why three foxes in the ZBI won’t be and isn’t going to be as big of a deal as the ZPDs first fox cop will be is because federal agents aren’t in the spotlight. We aren't public figures. Cops are. Cops are in the news constantly, on social media, everywhere. They're who you see on the streets. They get the limelight. For that reason a fox cop would be a social figure for what foxes could be. Federal agents are hardly seen and what they do hardly covered. Wanna know how many times what me and my team have done has made the news? Three times, but only as a brief mention on that little bar under the anchors. FETRU conducts raid on such and such. A fox cop would have their face plastered everywhere just like you did when you became a cop. Sure we ZBI agents have more authority, but that doesn't play into how often we are seen. The fact that we have no media coverage. How many times can you say you've seen the FBI on the news compared to how many times you see cops on it? Federal agents are the Boogeymen of law enforcement. You never see us but you know we are here.”

Judy nodded a few times and conceded her point agreeing with James. “That actually makes a lot of sense, I mean I can count on one paw the number of times I’ve seen the FBI /ZBI headline the news. Police officers on the other paw I’ve seen easily into the double digits.”

James pointed to her and simply replied “exactly.”

…

They drove in a content silence for a few minutes when they had to stop for a red light. James looked around waiting for it to turn green something caught his eye that he quickly pointed out Judy. “Hey Judy, what’s that look like to you?”

Judy followed James finger to a coyote and a stoat in the alleyway. Watching them for only a moment Judy replied “code 212, definitely a drug deal in progress.”

Judy went to open the car door to go do her job but James caught her arm and stopped her. “Woah hey slow your role. First, lose the hat and vest or they aren’t going to take you seriously. Two I’ll assist and I hope your ready for a a run. See how the Stoats all twitchy? He’s going to run the second he sees you or you announce yourself. You take him and I’ll hold the coyote, you’ll make both arrests. Ready?”

Judy noticed the Stoats twitching as well and came to the same conclusion as James. Taking his advice Judy quickly took off the orange vest and stupid hat tossing them in the back. Prepping herself for the chase Judy grabbed the door handle and said “ready.”

James let out an “alright.” And then hit the sirens pulling the challenger onto the sidewalk and be and Judy immediately jumped out the car. Both Coyote and Stoat froze in surprise before Judy yelled “ZPD nobody move!”

After that the Stoat immediately took off in a sprint away from them Judy immediately giving chase. As Judy went by it looked like the Coyote was tempted to grab at her and James quickly pulled his 1911 and pointed it at him saying “don’t even think about it.”

The coyote quickly shot his paws up and simultaneously tossed his drugs into a nearby trash heap. James just raised his brows and said “dude, seriously?”

…

Judy came back only five minutes later the stoat in front of her in paw cuffs. She was ecstatic, her first real arrest! There was no way Bogo could not notice that, she had already read the stoat his rights and recovered the baggie of drugs he had tossed while he ran. She was also happy see James was there with the coyote at gunpoint, but also curious to why he hadn’t cuffed him yet.

As if reading her mind James said “nice arrest, and I told you you’d be making both arrests. I’ll cover them both, here.”

At that James tossed her a pair of his cuffs and Judy caught it before telling the stoat to take a seat. Judy then walked up behind the coyote and said “get on your knees, cross your ankles, paws on the back of your head.”

The coyote did as he was told and Judy cuffed him immediately reading him his rights. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present for you during questioning. If you can’t afford an attorney one will be appointed to you by the state. Do you understand your rights as I have said them to you?”

The coyote let out a “yeah yeah.” And Judy nodded before walking towards James trying super hard not to jump up and down in excitement and pump her face. James holstered his 1911 and then pointed to the garbage pile the coyote tossed his drugs in and said. “Coyote tossed his drugs over there Judy.”

Judy walked over to the pile and luckily the bag of drugs was sitting on top of a bag and noted buried in the pile. Grabbing them she showed them to James who have her a thumbs up and she showed him the baggie she had recovered from the stoat. “Got the stoats purchase as well, looks like brown heroin.”

James walked over to her and gave her a high five saying “great job Judy. Now call in a pick up for these two dolts.”

Judy nodded once to James and pulled out her cheap radio and keyed the mic. “Officer Hopps to dispatch.”

After only a moment a response came. “ _This is dispatch. What do you want bunny?”_

James narrowed his eyes at the dispatchers dismissal but Judy handled its quickly. “First dispatcher it’s officer Hopps, not bunny, not rabbit, not just Hopps, it’s OFFICER Hopps get it right next time or you’ll be reported. Secondly I need a transport for two suspects I apprehended conducting a drug deal. I am on..”

Judy was going to look at what street she was on but James said “we are on Beech Street, alleyway between 22 and 24.”

Judy mouthed a thank you and relayed her location to the dispatcher. “Beech Street. Alleyway between 22 and 24.”

“ _Okay bun… I mean Officer Hopps. I have a unit in route to pick up your suspects. Five minutes out.”_

“Acknowledged. Hopps out.”

Judy put away her radio and out a breath she had been holding in. Jameson walked over to her and gave her a look of approval and said “hey you did good Judy. Two arrests, contraband on both recovered, and as a added bonus proved to a dispatcher you weren’t going to be walked over. Proud of you.”

Judy gave him a beaming smile at that and said “thank you, and thanks for your help.”

James gave her a shrug and said “hey glad to do it. Every officer in this city needs some back up and since you don’t have a partner yet I just provided an assist. Though I’m more than sure you could have gotten both on your own. I need to move my cruiser real quick to make room for your colleges, I’ll be just across the street waiting.”

After a few minutes a ZPD cruiser pulled up and a lion and a gazelle climbed out. Judy didn’t recognize them and they looked dead tired, they must be from the graveyard shift. The lion approached her and crouched down on front of her while the gazelle went and grabbed the two suspects and led them to the cruiser. The lion officer stuck out his paw and said “hey officer Hopps, nice to meet you. I’m Officer Delmarva and my partner is Officer Kunlali. We work the graveyard shift, we’re on are way in to clock out when we got the call. You really get these two guys alone? No offense.”

Judy shook his enormous paw and said “it’s a pleasure to meet you, and sorry to make you work a little overtime. Luckily for you, you won’t have handle the paperwork just book them in. I did have a small assist, he held the coyote while I chased the stoat, he ran. But I made both arrests.

Officer Delmarva followed Judy’s finger to see Jameson sitting on the hood of his cruiser. Seeing the lion looking at him he gave a small wave.”

Looking back at Judy Officer Delmarva said “a ZBI FETRU Officer assisted you? Nice. Didn’t know a fox was in FETRU though. Kinda cool. That’s one hell of an helping paw to come by. So have you read those two idiots their rights yet?”

Judy nodded once and said “yep both have been read their rights, and here’s the contraband.”

Judy pulled out the bag and baggie of drugs each in their own evidence bag and handed them over. “Looks like brown heroin to me. The big bag was the coyotes, he’s the dealer. Little baggie is the stoats.”

Delmarva took the evidence bags and inspected them. “Yeah definitely looks like brown heroin. We’ll get it tested at the station. Good job Hopps. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

At that Officer Delmarva stood and Judy waved to him saying “thank you! Bye”

Officer Delmarva waved back as he got back in his cruiser and his partner just nodded to Judy. Then they pulled away. James walked over to her as they pulled away and said “and just like that Judy, you’re on your way. So shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Done! 
> 
> Yeah I know I promised you all Bogo would get his ass chewed out by James but I didn’t anticipate how much needed to be done before then. Next chapter I promise!  
> So as I said James is a secondary character. All he did is offer advice and a little help. This is the crux of what he will do, offer advice and a little bit of help. That’s it, he with what he does alters things just enough so Judy act likes a real cop and a lot of the ridiculous movie antics get replaced with realism. 
> 
> so what’s next…oh! You see through James advice Judy indeed this chapter act like a REAL cop. She used proper procedure, said the proper code, read the suspects their Miranda rights which by the way that is the words exactly, and gave a brief summary to a superior. This was all the correct way a cop should act, and it was still fun to read wasn’t it? Even without some ridiculous antic. 
> 
> Alright so that’s all I had. So next time on A True Brother! Bogo meets the first Wilde brother and gets a giant thorn in his side! Judy gets proper gear and gets to ditch the hat! And we get to see James in the ZBI environment! 
> 
> So until then this is TheConcernedF0X signing off! See you next time!


	5. Fox Meets Water Buffalo

Judy was in a mild panic…okay she was freaking out. Making those two arrests was going to make her five minutes late! She didn’t want Bogo to have any more fuel to make her life difficult but it looked like he was going to get some. She shuddered just thinking about the punishment and chewing out that she was going to get. She tried to get Jameson to step on it, turn on the sirens, anything to get their quicker but he wasn’t budging.

James was cool as a cucumber even. Not even worried a smidge about her being late and it irritated the crap out of her. When she had brought it up James had said “hey Bogo can’t fault you for being late since you were doing your job, and if he does well I’ll just add that to the list.”

Judy had been confused on what he meant by add it to the list and she questioned him on it. Sadly for her he wasn’t talking and instead changed the subject. James knew something more than he was telling her, he was planning something…and she couldn’t help but be brought back to question from earlier in the day. “

…

Soon they arrived at Precinct One James parking his cruiser right in front of it. A few officers going in and out pausing as they saw it, a visitor from the ZBI was always interesting, and even more so now since the cruiser marked the mammal as part of FETRU. Judy went to quickly grab her vest and hat but James stopped her saying “nah Judy leave those, you don’t need them. Trust me.”

Judy gave him a quizzical look but he was already exiting the vehicle so she hopped out herself shutting the door as she did. The officers who had stopped to see the ZBI agent were immediately hit with double shocks, the first being that the ZBI FETRU agent was a fox…and the second much bigger one was seeing the new bunny had been riding with the agent. They watched with shock and awe with a few hanging jaws as the fox agent and bunny cop walked up the stairs together, Judy waving and saying hi while the fox kept a self satisfied smirk on his face.

Reaching the top of the stairs James held the door open for Judy to enter before turning to the still frozen officers and saying “carry on with your duties officers.” This snapped them out of their haze and they hurriedly went back to whatever they were doing before.

…

Judy the second she entered the precinct was about to sprint towards the bullpen, the clock being 8:05. But James put a paw on her shoulder and said “no don’t even worry about going to roll call. It’s already started and you’ve got something more important to do.”

Judy threw her paws up in the air and exclaimed “what could possibly be more important! I'm late!”

James looked down at her and said “late for roll call where you’ll sit there, get chewed out in front of everyone, not able to get a word in edgewise, and then get assigned parking duty. What’s more important is checking that drug test on the recovered narcotics, and then coming with me to Bogo’s office to wait for him. He ain’t gonna chew you out while I’m here and I can’t go on the bullpen.”

Judy looked at James in surprise, he made some good points and he was making sure that she wasn’t going to get chewed out before he handled his business. It was endearing how much he was looking out for her, acting like a big brother more and more. But, it still didn’t answer the question of why he had her leave the hat and vest in his cruiser, and why she still had the feeling he hadn’t told her everything. Shrugging the feeling off Judy replied “well that’s a fair point..and thank you James. Now let’s go.”

James gave her a smile and nodded as he fell in step behind her making their way further inside their destination the front desk. Chief Dispatcher and reception Officer Benjamin Clawhauser was eating a bowl of Lucky Chomps when he saw Judy approaching slowly. Putting down his cereal and looking at the clock he exclaimed “Hopps you’re late! What are you doing walking!? Bogo is going to tear you a new one!”

James raised his eyebrows at the sight of the overly obese cheetah but other wise said nothing as he came to a stop next to Judy, wondering if the cheetah would even not..”and who’s this?”

Judy smiled up at Clawhauser and replied “thanks for the concern but it’s fine, I’m not going to roll call at this point. Did Officer Delmarva and Kunlali come in with a coyote and a stoat, drop off some drugs for testing?”

Clawhauser got a real excited expression on his face as he exclaimed “so it’s true!? You arrested those two! Sweet! Yeah they came in with them and marked you as the arrestee, and those drugs came back positive as brown heroin. Coyote was booked with possession with intent to distribute and the stoat was booked in for possession. You know they also said you had an assist from a fox ZBI agent! That’s so cool!”

At that last sentence James waved a paw and said “hi.”

It took Clawhauser two seconds before the light bulb in his head went off and he let out an excited squeal before exclaiming “OH M GOODNESS! YOU’RE THE FOX ZBI AGENT!”

James pinned his ears down from the squad and replied “yep that’s me. Special Agent Jameson Wilde.”

He would have stuck out a paw for a paw shake but he was afraid this cheetah would break it off. Clawhauser did a little happy dance before leaning over his desk more and exclaimed “oh I have so many questions!”

James let out a chuckle at that and replied “Well I’m afraid I don’t have much time to answer them, I have business to discuss with Chief Bogo and Judy will be accompanying me as I am going to make sure she doesn’t chew her out for doing her job. So while I’d love to stay and chat me and Hopps will be heading up there now. Oh, and don’t tell Bogo we’re up there, I like mammals I’m about to talk to to be surprised.”

Clawhauser gave James a little salute and said “yes sir! Judy can show you the way to Bogo’s office. See you later Judy!”

Judy gave Clawhauser a wave and she began to lead Jameson towards the stairs leading to Bogo’s office. They got maybe halfway to the stairs when Judy realized something, turning she yelled “Clawhauser!”

Clawhauser, who had been mid bite of a spoonful of lucky chomps turned to look at her with a look of surprise. Judy wanted to laugh at the expression and Jameson chuckled at it, elbowing James to hush him she called out “add resisting arrest to the stoat, he ran.”

Clawhauser shot her a thumbs up and Judy turned around and continued walking James falling in line behind her again. Rubbing his stomach James snarked “mean bunny.”

Judy looked back at him and said with a smile “you deserved it.”

Taking on a mock hurt look he replied “wow, I meant evil bunny.”

Judy stuck her tongue out at him in response and James remarked “now that was just childish.” As they ascended the stairs. Once they reached the top they walked the short distance to Bogo’s office and James got in front of Judy and opened up the door for her saying “after you.”

Judy smiled up at him and said “such a gentle fox.”

Walking in behind her and closing the door Jameson said “my mom would kill me if I didn’t remember she raised me to be one.”

Judy let out a small giggle at that before hopping into one of the overlarge chairs in the office and patting it. “Hop on up more than enough room for two.”

James instead of joining her ignored her and instead walked around the desk. He then pulled Bogo’s chair out and hopped in it and took a seat saying “sorry this chair just looked so much more comfortable, and hey I was right.”

Judy looked at him like he was absolutely crazy and said “what in the world are you doing James! You’re going to get in trouble!”

No sooner than the words left her mouth she realized how stupid the words sounded. James was a federal agent not a cop, he technically outranked Bogo. James gave her a small look of ‘seriously’ and replied “The only one about to get in trouble here is your Chief Bogo.”

* _Chief Bogo, 8:00 AM_ *

Bogo was ecstatic. That ridiculous bunny that thought she could be a real cop and the one the mayor thrust on him for his little PR stunt wasn’t here. “ _Hehehe I must have her got to quit. Good. Shame we’ve lost a meter maid though. Haha haha.”_

Bogo tried to adopt a stern, not happy, face while he asked “Has anyone seen Hopps!?”

He looked around the room to see officers shake their heads no or shrug. Looking back and forth once more he said, “no? Okay then moving on.” For the rest of roll call Bogo had a small smile on his face and satisfied he got the rabbit to quit.

Bogo finished roll call and then left the bullpen making his way back to his office, a little skip in his step and a small smile still on his face. He couldn’t wait to drum up Hopps resignation papers and mailing it to her, hell he actually considered handing them to her in the flesh. Reaching his office Bogo opened his door a full smile on his face when it was like the song in his mind scratched to a stop. His whole body sagging, his good mood plummeting, and his jaw dropping.

There sitting in an oversized chair was none other than the mammal he thought he made quit. “HOPPS!?”

Judy smiled at Bogo and waved saying “hi chief!”

Bogo was about to yell again questioning what in the world was she doing in his office when he heard a chuckle, coming from his chair. Looking up a little Bogo roared out “WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?”

Jameson couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw Bogo’s shocked expression and he also wanted to bring attention to himself. When Bogo roared at him James immediate thought was _“well that worked well.”_

Jameson gave Bogo a smirk and a wave and responded “hi I’m James.”

Bogo looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel, his good mood gone and replaced with rage. “I DON’T CARE WHO YOU ARE! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY CHAIR, FOX AND BOTH OF YOU GET OUT OF MY OFFICE! HOPPS YOU’RE FIRED!”

Jameson at that last statement decided it was time to stop playing with his food. “Chief Bogo you will not take that tone with me! And Officer Judy Hopps is not fired in the slightest! If anyone in this room is in danger of losing their job it’s you!”

Bogo let out a snort and pointed a finger at James “WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO TALK TO ME THAT WAY, FOX! I SAID…”

Jameson undid his jacket and cut Bogo off with a roar of his own. “I SAID YOU DO NOT GET TO TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME! MY NAME IS NOT FOX! MY NAME IS SPECIAL AGENT JAMESON WILDE! ZBI!”

Jameson then showed Bogo his badge and in a cooled tone said “If you call me fox again I will skip my speech and go straight to having YOU being the ZPD’s newest meter maid! I am a Captain of ZBI SWAT’s Fast-action Elite Tactical Response Unit! You will cool your tone and heed your words when speaking to me! And until I leave this is MY chair so sit your giant ass in that chair next to OFFICER Hopps!”

Bogo recoiled a little at Jameson’s words and intensity, even Judy was. Bogo forced himself to calm down and with an angry snort said “what is the meaning of this!? And why is Hopps here!?”

Jameson didn’t reply and instead pointed to the empty chair next to Judy and replied “I said. Sit. Down.”

Bogo wanted to throttle this fox, but this fox was his superior because he could see even from where he was standing the badge the fox wore was authentic. Letting out a snort again Bogo walked over to the empty chair and plopped himself down in it. Grabbing the arm rests of the chair tightly Bogo said icily “well?”

Jameson relaxed his posture and tone and replied. “Now that’s much better. Adonis Bogo, Chief of Police and Precinct One. Your job is in danger here, but before I get to that. The reasons Hopps is here and was not at roll call are as follows. One, she was late coming in because she did her ACTUAL job and arrested two mammals conducting a drug deal. I assisted her and evaluated her. She performed exceptionally and made both arrests recovering all drugs while using the proper procedures. Second, she did not attend roll call by my order. I wanted to ensure you, whose misconduct I have been made aware of regarding Officer Hopps, did not come into play as she was doing her JOB. No doubt you would have reprimanded her for being late, doing the job period and then done what you just tried to do, terminate her employment.”

Bogo was going to speak when James put a paw up and said, “I am not done. I will do this in the way your IA would do this, but as I do not put trust in them I do this in their stead. Now comes while your job here is in danger and is as follows. Misconduct of chiefly duties regarding and to a subordinate officer and second, discrimination and speciesism. Victim of all charges, Rookie Officer Judith Laverne Hopps. Offended party, present.”

Judy couldn’t believe what was happening at this moment, James was calling out Bogo and threshing his job! She couldn’t even comprehend what was happening when James turned to her and said, “Officer Judith L. Hopps, by your own admission to me Captain Jameson K. Wilde, Zootopian Bureau of Investigations Special Weapons and Tactics, Fast-action Elite Tactical Response Unit Division. You stated your superior officers misconduct. Do you hold your previous statement to his misconduct as inaccurate?”

Judy was absolutely shocked at this turn of events, and looking at Bogo she could tell he was too. Not only that though, he was worried. Judy didn’t know how this just became a formal hearing but she wasn’t about to stop this, and she wasn’t about to lie either. She would let this play out, she didn’t think Bogo should lose his job though over this, and decided she would say as such when the time came. Steeling her resolve and looking at Bogo as she spoke she responded. “No sir I do not. The information I relayed to you was accurate, though I do not know how you reached such conclusions from my statement alone. Regardless all information I gave regarding my superior Chief Bogo was accurate.”

James nodded and replied. “Thank you Officer Hopps. That is all the questions I had for you at the moment but you will remain present. As to your addition in the statement you just gave I took what you told me and researched the matter further and set this plan in motion.”

Jameson then turned to Bogo and said. “Chief Adonis Bogo, do you recognize the severity of the situation you now are faced with?”

Bogo had no idea how it had come to this, he had no idea how this fox came into the picture, he couldn’t understand anything about what was happening. All he knew was he had to try and salvage this, and if he didn’t he was screwed. Steeling his resolve and nerves while trying to relax himself Bogo replied, “I do.”

James nodded and replied “good. I will now reveal my evidence to your misconduct and I’m going to do away with the boring formal readings, pretty much because I want to enjoy this. Afterwards and based on your actions from this point I will decide your fate. So I suggest you keep a level head Bogo.”

Jameson then hopped onto Bogo’s desk and pulled out the big file he had complied out of his satchel. “Firstly we will look at Officer Hopps’ capabilities as an officer which I will do so using her and your academy records for a comparison. So Hopps made Valedictorian the same as you Bogo, but as a mammal six times smaller than you are facing mammals two to six times the size she is. Still she achieved Valedictorian. Now the requirements to be hired here at Precinct One are simply you must graduate the academy in the top ten of the entire class, she made first place. This in turn qualified her for Precinct One, these are facts Mayor Lionheart is aware of, which is the main reason she was assigned to this precinct. Now when we compare the two of your records side by side….Hopps outperformed you in OVER a quarter of all activities and she had 47 more points than you overall.”

This news surprised Bogo, he had known Hopps had made Valedictorian, but not the rest, not the fact she a mammal he could easily step on outperformed him at the academy. “So out of the activities she outdid you in one that stands out is the enormous criminal takedown. You faced the same species as her a rhino, a mammal twice your size and in her case ten times. You took the Rhino down in 5.2 seconds…she took it down in 3.6 seconds. Have you seen the footage of it? It’s pretty impressive. Have you?”

Bogo shook his head once and answered “no.”

James nodded once and continued. “Interesting, so we have established that Ju..Hopps is a capable officer. Yes her conduct regarding the fox from yesterday was not to protocol, no denying that. BUT, she was reprimanded for her rookie mistake and the very next day made two felony arrests one hundred percent to protocol. She learned from her mistake. Do you question my judgment on that matter? Or my conclusion that she is a capable officer?”

Bogo cursed internally, this fox was good. “In this context, no.”

James nodded a few times and replied “its funny how you say in this context Chief Bogo, as there’s no other context to go by. She outperformed you at the academy and in her second day of being an officer, not even on duty yet, made two superb felony arrests. I fail to see how in any other context she wouldn’t be or isn’t a capable officer.”

Bogo was on the ropes at this point, this fox had him dead to rights. There was only one thing Bogo could think to do to discredit the fox at this point. “Special agent Wilde. You say Hopps made a statement about me to you, and you slipped up and almost referred to her by her first name. What is your relationship to her, do you know her?”

James had expected Bogo to fight back, but not this way. Bogo was trying to deflate Jameson’s argument by saying he was emotionally compromised by Judy and that his affiliation with her was the cause of this making him skew things in Hopps favor. It would have been a decent strategy if what he just said was all he brought to the table. “Yes I know Officer Hopps, she is my neighbor. She just moved into the same apartment complex as me. I invited her over for dinner last night as I knew she was new to the city and on a very tight budget. She told me about your conduct there and I did some further research.”

Bogo wanted to smile, he finally was off the ropes. “So would you say you two are friends?”

Judy looked at Jameson curious to what he would answer. She already considered him to be a friend even after only having met him last night. James made sure to look her way when he answered. “Absolutely. You know I see what you’re trying to do here Bogo, you think my friendship to Ju..Hop..screw it Judy discredits what I’ve brought because I’m skewered to her side. Well, if what I just said was all I brought than yeah you could discredit me as I have no evidence to the charges I placed on you…But that’s not all I brought, next I’ll look at the actions you took AFTER she was assigned to Precinct One…oh and certain lacks of action.”

And just like that Bogo was back on the ropes again. This part caught Judy’s attention immediately. “ _Bogo took actions after learning I was being assigned to his precinct? Why do I have a feeling they weren’t ones for my benefit..wait never mind I know why. But what’s this about lack of action?”_

She wagered she wouldn’t have to wait long to find out…and she was right.

Jameson was feeling very satisfied at the moment. He let Bogo think he was getting control over this situation and then he knocked his legs out from under him. Pulling out his next set of evidence from his file James continued.

“First we will start off with what actions you DID take. Action one, the requisition of one small mammal meter maid vehicle skinned with ZPD markings and a top siren. Action two, requisition of a small mammal orange safety vest and a ridiculous looking small mammal meter maid hat. Action three, small mammal ticket writing machine. There’s a few more in here but it boils down to the same thing. When you learned Judy was assigned to your precinct you only went and acquired items to make her a meter maid. You premeditated making her Precinct One’s new meter maid to make her quit. This wasn’t something that came spark of the moment.”

Judy couldn’t believe what she was hearing, to think she had placed trust in Chief Bogo. He NEVER intended to let her be a real cop even BEFORE she started working here. It only got worse from there.

“Now we are going to handle the actions you didn’t take. You did not provide Hopps with a lethal firearm or tranquilizer dart gun even though she passed the certifications for both. You gave her no baton or pepper spray. No taser either. You did not give her an adequate vest or radio, you literally bought the radio at RadioShack because this radio is not a police issue. You did not give her an adequate amount of cuffs, she had to borrow a set from me when making those arrests earlier. You have not set up an office for her. But the worst offense in my opinion is that you have not put her in the system yet, in other words you don’t even recognize her as your employee. You were banking on getting her to quit so you wouldn’t have to. She can’t access police systems, records, or resources. Bogo you were supposed to enter her in the system the DAY she was assigned to your precinct, I.e TWO WEEKS AGO! You set her up for failure before she was even officially working here! Not only that the MMI has been in effect for an ENTIRE YEAR and you have ordered NO gear for smaller mammals! And that Chief Bogo is why I find you GUILTY of Misconduct of chiefly duties regarding and to a subordinate officer, discrimination, and speciesism!”

Knock out. There was no way Bogo could deny this, refute this, justify this. James had him very simply dead to rights. James had requisition receipts, Judy’s statement, and Judy herself. That’s all James needed to bury Bogo and bury him he did, in reality he could have Bogo fired off the force entirely for this. Speciesism in itself is enough to get a mammal kicked off the force, and Bogo knows it. James could see the fear in Bogo’s eyes and the realization that he was utterly screwed, and his fate rested in Jameson’s paws.

James looked over at Judy to gauge how she was feeling, and he couldn’t really tell. She was staring off into space and her ears were down, she was obviously lost deep in thought trying to comprehend it all. James decided he would give her a few moments, looking at Bogo James made the ‘zip it’ sign so Judy could sort through her thoughts without interruption.

…

Judy couldn’t comprehend what was happening. She suspected, no knew Bogo didn’t see her as a real cop and wanted her to quit. But…to go so far as to deny her proper gear, not have acquired small mammal gear at all, and gotten her that stupid car, hat, and vest instead of said proper gear….not to mention not putting her in the system, she hadn’t even known that he was supposed to put her in the day she was assigned. Bogo was willingly and knowingly withholding vital things from her.

To learn this information alone was a shock and a half. But how she was learning it was a shock of its own. Jameson K Wilde. The fox she had just met last night after he invited her over for dinner, treated her with such hospitality, told her a bit about his tragic backstory, helped her with her parents and gave her a confidence boost. Jameson K Wilde after she had left that night after telling him what Bogo had said to her and done a bunch of research just to come in here and tear Bogo apart.

Judy couldn’t understand or comprehend a lot of things at the moment. But one thing she did know and could now confirm is that James was acting like a protective big brother rather than a friend. On the other paw though, she couldn’t understand why. James already had an actual sibling, his younger brother Nick, she didn’t know why James wasn’t saving this type of behavior for him. But she decided she was going to find out after this was all over.

….

James noticed the shift in Judy and decided it was time to get things moving again. James hopped back in Bogo’s chair and said, “So Judy, how are you feeling about all of this?”

Judy looked over at Jameson and then over to Bogo, keeping her eyes on him. She said, “how do I feel? Shocked, hurt, angry, betrayed, foolish for believing he would even give me a chance, among other things.”

James nodded and decided he would drive the nail deeper in Bogo. “Judy after hearing all of this do you put any trust and faith in Chief Bogo?”

Judy shook her head. “No.”

“Would you?”

“That remains to be seen.”

James nodded. “Do you believe he cares about you or your safety as an officer under his watch?”

“No. Not after hearing all of this. Not at all.”

“Do you believe he has your interests at heart? That he has or will allow and help you to succeed?”

Judy firmly shook her head. “Absolutely not.”

James asked his final question. “Do you respect Chief Bogo as your superior Officer?”

Judy looked Bogo right in his eyes as she said “he shows no respect for me and set me up to fail and quit. So no, I do not respect my own Chief in the slightest. Not as a chief, and not as a mammal.”

For Bogo, that actually stung a bit. Hearing a subordinate officer say that she doesn’t respect him in any way hurt. Even from a small mammal like Hopps.

James turned his attention to Bogo next. “Chief Bogo, you have heard the charges against you and seen my evidence. Do you deny yourself as guilty? Do you have any arguments to make for your actions besides she’s too small to do the job? Do you have any statements to make stating how you were saving her life by doing this?”

Bogo really couldn’t say anything but one word at this point. This fox had gotten him good, and he wanted to strangle him and Hopps, but he couldn’t. “No.”

James nodded once. “So, you admit you are guilty of all charges?”

“Yes.”

“And would your defense be using the phrases I mentioned previously that you couldn’t use?”

Bogo cracked the armrests. “Yes.”

James smirked when he heard the armrests crack. “I thought so. So Bogo as we’ve been talking I built a profile on you in my mind that I will speak aloud now. I’ve seen your type before, a small minded old school cop that only thinks mammals six feet or taller can do the job as an officer. You were heavily opposed to the mammal inclusion initiative as a result. Your misguided views have led to your actions now, your misguided views leading to you actually thinking you were saving Judy by setting her up to fail. No, you were setting her up to get killed. The first aggressive mammals she would have encountered she would have to use her fists. That’s a death sentence. Your old school ways need to change or you’re going to be left behind.”

James put his file back in his satchel and closed it. Looking at both mammals he made a decision. “So Bogo now comes the time for me to decide your fate, will you remain the chief of police and of precinct one or will I give this file to Mayor Lionheart and have you fired off the entire force…I’ve decided Judy will decide your fate, she’s the offended party after all. Your fate Bogo now rests in her paws. Judy?”

Judy didn’t expect she’d be handed this kind of power. She literally held the fate of Bogo’s career in her very own paws. Thinking on it there was a part of her that wanted to immediately say “take the file to Lionheart.” But when this has started she told herself she would tell James that Bogo shouldn’t lose his job over this…but that was before she learned just what Bogo did to ensure her failure and her quitting. So she would change up her wording a bit.

“I say let me prove I’ve got what it takes to do this job, that I can handle it all and be a real cop. Give me a real cruiser, proper gear, actual patrols, put me in the system, and NO MORE PARKING DUTY. You don’t think a bunny can do this job even given that I outperformed you in the academy so let me prove it further. And while I’m showing you a small mammal like a bunny can do this job you can try and evolve and change your tune. Because I doubt you’ll change your ways unless a small mammal shows it to you. If I figure you’re trying to set me up to fail or anything of the sort again I call James and he and I pay a visit to the mayor's office with that file of his.”

Both Bogo and James were surprised by Judy’s response. They both thought she was gonna have a Bogo kicked to the curb, James found it admirable but naïve, Bogo could only let out a sigh of relief. Not willing to question Judy’s decision he instead turned to Bogo and said “well Bogo, do you accept those terms? Letting Judy be a real cop and show you she can indeed do the job just like everyone else? And nor trying to sabotage her while she does?”

Bogo couldn’t believe the lifeline he had just been thrown. “ _I bet she’ll quit on her own being a real cop, all I will have to do is sit back and wait. She’s cocky and overconfident, she’ll see she can’t do this job just like the rest of the small mammals can’t. I won’t set her loose as a ‘real’ cop though without gear, I don’t want her death on my conscience.”_

Leaning forward towards Hopps Bogo stuck out a hoof and said, “deal. You show me you can actually do this job and I’ll change my tune, I’ll even apologize. But if you prove to me you can’t do it, you resign. I can enter you in the system later today, but I’ll have to order a cruiser and gear so you have little options. I am not going to send you into the field without at least proper gear.”

James wanted to gag. “ _Oh now he has a conscience.”_

“Bogo I can provide her with the proper gear, and some much needed upgrades too. We have small mammal gear at the ZBI. As far as a cruiser goes, put her on foot patrol.”

Bogo snorted once and replied “fine that’s agreeable enough. You will work foot patrol on your meter maid route, AFTER Agent Wilde provides you with gear not before. You’ll start after your lunch hour, deal?”

Judy grabbed one of Bogo’s enormous fingers and did her best to shake it saying “deal.” She knew she could do this job. She ran circles around mammals twice to ten times her size in the academy, this would be no different. She would show Bogo just how wrong he was.

Jameson clapped his paws together and announced “splendid! Then it’s settled. Judy after getting gear from me, and lunch. She will go on foot patrols in her parking duty route and continue that trend until her cruiser arrives, which by the way I will know if you delay. She will either prove to you once and for all she and small mammals can do this job or she will cave and fail. I know she will do the former but it’s whatever. Meanwhile you will act like a real supportive actual chief and not the jackass you have been. If you try and sabotage her, this file goes to Lionheart and you lose your job. That concludes this meeting, you can have your chair back. Come on Judy.”

James then walked across Bogo’s desk and hopped to the floor and Judy psyched up to get a chance that she can be a real cop and hopped down from her chair before following him. James opened the office door and held it for Judy before exiting himself, and just before he closed the door he cheekily said “oh and Bogo you might want to get the chair you’re sitting in fixed.” And with that he closed the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done! I hope you all had fun reading this chapter cuz it was a fun one to do! 
> 
> I know I said there would be more in this chapter than Bogo getting chewed out but I hadn’t anticipated just how large this would be. So the rest will be covered next chapter! 
> 
> Please comment and let me know what you thought! 
> 
> Next time on a A True Brother! Judy gets some answers and proper gear! We get to see James in the ZBI environment and Judy goes on her first real patrol!....at least that’s the plan…..
> 
> Anyways until then this is TheConcernedF0X signing off! See you next time!


	6. What’s wrong with my vest?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heck yeah it’s chapter six y’all! Please if you like the story leave me a comment and some kudos! Come onnnnnn DO IT!

Chapter six: what’s wrong with my vest?

Judy kept her eyes on Jameson’s back as they descended the stairs. What had just happened inside Bogo’s office was unfathomable, she woke up today wondering if she would ever get the chance to be a real cop…and now she was. She was about to go on a real patrol, and it was because the mammal walking right in front of her with a smirk plastered on his face. It was because of the fox Jameson Wilde.

Judy had about a million questions she wanted to ask him, that she was going to ask him. She was about to let them fly but it would seem James sensed her incoming barrage because he held up a paw and without looking back at her said “wait until we are back in the car Judy.”

Judy wanted to argue the point and barrel on with her questions anyway but just a glance from Jameson’s damaged eye told her not to push the envelope. So she closed mouth and let out a harumph instead and crossed her arms as she followed him. They passed by Clawhauser without incident, he was to busy on dispatch to notice them leaving.

Once they got outside it was just a short walk down the steps and they were back in Jameson’s cruiser. James immediately started the car up once Judy was in and pulled away beginning the trip to ZBI Headquarters which was only fifteen minutes away. Judy had yet to start her barrage of questions so he glanced over at her and said “okay you can start asking me your questions now.”

Judy didn’t hesitate. “What in the world was that in there? Why did you do that for me? Was everything you said really true? Why did you do such an amazing thing for someone you just met? Why are you acting like a big brother to me?”

That last question caught Jameson off guard hard. During this short time he hadn’t even realized what his actions looked like, it definitely wasn’t something a friend would outright do, especially a new one at that. There was two things he could be seen as acting like, protective boyfriend…or big brother. He was not romantically interested in Judy in the slightest and nor would he ever be..so that left one option. _“Wow, I really have been acting like a big brother to her…damn.”_

James took a deep breath as he figured just how he would answer her questions, there were a couple more tricky then others. “Well Judy….what just happened in there was you getting your chance to be a real cop much sooner than you expected. Why is a little more complicated as there are several reasons, one is I hate bullies and hearing that Bogo was being a bully pissed me off. Two is I’ve always looked out for those who could be used or taken advantage of, Judy you may think you’re a tough doe, and you are, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be taken advantage off. I mean you live in a broom closet.”

Judy decided to pause Jameson’s explanation in favor of asking, “seriously why do you keep saying I live in a broom closet!?”

Jameson gave her a look and said “uhhh….Judy I say you live in a broom closet…Because you do. Like literally. Every apartment in our complex has a mini kitchen and a bedroom except yours, because it’s literally a broom closet. Your apartment was a broom closet until the MII was enacted, then the landlady cleared out the cleaning supplies and put in a desk and tiny bed. She was certain some small mammal would come to the city, and these are her words, “broke and having no clue what to look for. I can charge them whatever I want for this room granted still pretty cheap, and they will take it because they got no other option.” In other words Judy she suckered you. You right now are paying the same price as everyone else for an apartment that is smaller with not even half the things the rest has. I was planning on telling you this later today.”

Judy couldn’t believe it. For the second time today James pointed out an injustice done to her by another mammal. _“Gods I really am clueless!”_

Judy didn’t even want to think about this right now so instead she shook her head and as she pitched the bridge of her nose she said “I just…I need to process this at a different time….just…wow…so before I blow a gasket just please continue with your explanation.”

James didn’t blame her for her reaction one bit given what he just told her, this was another bombshell among many he’d dropped on her today. So without further delay he continued.

“Okay no problem. So the third reason is when I joined the FBI SWAT team in Zootropolis, I experienced the same discrimination and mistreatment you have, and I almost died because of it. During a raid my team didn’t have my back and I as a result I was shot twice, one missed my vest and one penetrated it because they didn’t give me good gear. The one that penetrated my vest went into my right armpit, going into my right lung and staying there. The one that missed my vest hit my in the side of my stomach, luckily because of the angle it just went through flesh before exiting. It took me almost dying and being critically injured for them to at least treat me properly. I wasn’t about to wait for that to happen to you for your boss and colleges to at least give you respect.”

Judy blanched at the thought of Jameson almost dying because of the same issues she had been facing with Bogo and some of the other officers. She also blanched because if James hadn’t stepped in there was no doubt in her mind that the same thing that happened to him, would have happened to her. She decided she didn’t want to think on it further so she just listened to James as he continued.

“Everything I said in the office was one hundred percent true, you can even read the file if you want, But Bogo didn’t deny a single thing I brought to the table. Now this last question of yours….it’s a little harder to answer. Because until you mentioned it, I hadn’t realized it. But once you did I realized it was true, I was, no am acting like an older brother to you…and as I’ve been answered your other questions in my head I have been trying to think on how I should answer it, my explanation…and this whole time the only things I can think of is these two reasons. One, I haven’t seen or spoken to my little brother nick in 11 years..so I haven’t been a true brother to him, I haven’t gotten the chance. So I guess in my subconscious I saw the opportunity to be like one to you…and the second reason is, you remind me of Nick actually, when we were younger. Back then I always looked out for him…so I guess to make up for it I’m now looking out for you.”

Judy processed James answer, and she accepted it because it made sense to her. “Okay, I can understand that James, I get it. Right now I’m 200 miles away from my siblings and not being able to be a sister to them hurts. So I get it. And no, I don’t think I want to look at the file it’d just infuriate me even more than I already am. Right now I just want to change subjects before I blow a blood vessel so can we please change subjects?”

James gave a small nod understanding where she was at right now, he didn’t blame her for wanting to change the subject one bit. “We sure can Judy, so what do you want to talk about?”

Judy had a few topics on her mind that she could ask, most of them related to law enforcement, but she decided on something else. “So that guitar I saw in your room, do you actually play it?”

The question surprised James a little, he had honestly expected her to ask him something law enforcement related like something pertaining to his career in the FBI/ZBI or his time with the CIA. But never the less it was a pleasant surprise. “Yeah I sure do, pretty good too if I say so myself. I mostly play bass, never cared to be in the spotlight. I actually also play the violin too, both classical and country style. When we were growing up our mom and dad has us learn one classical instrument and one modern. Those were the two I chose.”

Judy was glad she chose this topic. “That’s so cool, maybe you could play one of them sometime! I’ll be the judge if your skills!”

James chuckled at her and replied “fine by me, I’m so good it’ll rock your socks off.”

Judy quickly snarked a reply. “I don’t wear socks.”

James let out a snort and said “hey you know it’s a saying.”

Judy giggled at that and then asked another question. “So what instruments did Nick pick?”

James let out a hum and responded. “Nick chose opposite spectrums, one to annoy everyone in the house and the the other to serenade. For modern he chose the drums, and he LOVED practicing them first thing in the morning and innocently asking ‘what?’ When we all came out staring daggers at him. The classical instrument he chose was the piano, which was easy to be taught as our mom plays it.”

Judy couldn’t help but laugh at the mental image of James and his parents standing there with messy bed ridden fur and tired eyes staring at a mini Nick as he jammed on the drums at the crack of dawn. Her laugh doubled in intensity when James gave her the exact look she imagined he would have given his little brother. After a few more moments she regained her composure and said “I’m sorry I’m sorry but just the picture in my head was to funny.”

James let out a grumble and replied “sure laugh at my pain, I lost a good chunk of beauty sleep thanks to him.” At that Judy burst out in another fit of laughs and James let out a harrumph as the drive continued.

* _10 minutes later*_

After another ten minutes filled with light conversation they reached ZBI headquarters and James pulled into a partaking garage section dedicated to FETRU vehicles. In fact as Judy noticed and looked around, they had their own parking garage period with its own entrance and exit completely separate from the rest. She didn’t need James to explain why either, they were the Fast-action Elite Tactical Response Unit, they needed to be fast and sharing a parking garage with everyone else would just slow them down.

As they exited James cruiser it put them right in front of the door and as they walked towards it James said, “so you might not have noticed it when we drove in but FETRU has their own section of the ZBI headquarters right in the front. It’s actually it’s own small one story building a glass hallway connecting it to the main building. SWAT has its own to but in the back of headquarters. FETRU doesn’t mix with the other departments within because we need to respond fast and every second counts. Being separated means we can gear up and get out fast without having to dodge around mammals or other agency vehicles.”

Judy hadn’t noticed that when they had arrived, to engrossed in conversation. His little lesson made complete sense to her though, it would be real problematic if they had to step around mammals to get out the door. “That’s cool. So any agents we run into will be FETRU?”

James nodded once at her question and replied “more than likely. There might be a odd agent dropping off files or some such though. Our first stop before any thing else though is the armory to get you properly geared up. FETRU has its own armory and it has some rabbit gear in there, mostly because I had them transfer it over from our main armory so we wouldn’t have to got through there.”

Judy nodded as they walked through the small mammal door and as they walked in something clicked for Judy as she saw James walking with his cane in paw. “Wait, James how are you even on FETRU with your leg? It’s crippled without the brace!”

James was wondering when this question would come up. “Well Judy the reason I am able to be on FETRU is because on paper Captains aren’t supposed to go in the field. They stay behind and coordinate everything. I though do go in the field because well…well I’m just plain stubborn. The Director knew she couldn’t stop me, because again, stubborn, and she knows with the brace I’m fully functional. So, she made me a deal. I could continue to go into the field BUT, if my brace fails at any point, I have to stay at base for 48 hours and if it doesn’t fail during that time I can go back into the field. Oh and before you ask back in Zootropolis I started out in Counter Terrorism which is mostly at the desk, and I was able to convince and show the director there I could handle being in SWAT. So that director made a similar deal.”

Judy nodded a couple of times as they walked in running into no mammals so far. “I guess that makes sense, but couldn’t they just threaten your job?”

James gave a shrug and said “eh they could. But they recognize I’m a great talent for the ZBI and it would hurt them to terminate me more than help. My brace has never once failed in the field I take extreme precautions with it beforehand.”

Judy nodded and accepted his answer as they finished walking down a hallway entering an open are with a reception desk. At the desk were two mammals, a female jaguar receptionist….and a stripped Jackrabbit in a very nice suit. Seeing the jackrabbit James internally let out a curse. _“Of all the days you are over here Savage it had to be today!?”_

Judy was surprised seeing a rabbit here in FETRU’s main area. “ _James would have told me if there was a rabbit in FETRU…so who is this?”_

_…_

Special agent Jack Savage immediately took notice of the duo his icy blue eyes looking at Judy with great interest. “ _So this is the first bunny cop…but what is she doing here? And especially with HIM.”_

Special Agent Jack Savage was by default a very cautious, guarded, and suspicious striped jackrabbit. But, through his time here he’d grown to trust most of the mammals here and such…but there was one permanent exception…and that was Jameson Wilde. He had transferred here at about the same time as Wilde but where his background was well known and documented, Wilde’s was not. Jack made a point of learning who mammals were before they joined through multiple checks and acting chummy with fellow agents to get stories from them.

Sure he eventually befriended a small few and acted genuine with the rest but it was just something he does. But, when he researched Wilde and spoke with him, things just didn’t add up. He could find records of Wilde only up to the age of 16, eldest brother with one sibling, mother, deceased father, two hospital visits in critical condition at the ages of 12 and 15. Then, after that, he fell off the map for ELEVEN YEARS only to mysteriously reappear as a CIA analyst and strategist.

It made absolutely no sense at all. There wasn’t even records of him going through CIA training or anything of the sort. He just miraculously reappeared out of thin air having a job in the freaking CIA! From then on records were more or less there but even then it was confusing. Married a bunny named Sarah Jumps at the age of 22, adopted the bunny’s daughter Rachel, lived on a secluded farm in Bunnyburrow, two visits to the hospital one in severe critical condition ending up in a crippled left leg.

Then the records and reports turned sad but yet still confusing. Arson fire kills his wife and daughter, but also two CIA agents slain? He had to dig deep to find out why there were two CIA agents there and when he did he was confused, Wilde’s wife and daughter had been under modified witness protection. Moving on through the records Wilde ambushed by the arsonists, kills them but is critically injured, rumors of attacking a fellow CIA agent and attempted suicide.

Then the records become more current, resigns from the CIA and join the FBI in Zootropolis, breezes through FBI training in top of class, enters straight into Counter Terrorism, makes SWAT despite crippled left leg, serves there for two years before transferring here as a FETRU Captain. Which is quite a jump from being just a SWAT member and not a Captain. Which begs another question as the Captain Wilde replaced recommended Wilde for the position in the first place.

This is where all his questions came in about things and the discrepancies within. Why did he disappear for eleven years? How did he resurface in the CIA? How did he make SWAT with a crippled leg? Why did the records about his marriage and adoption of a kit show up AFTER they were slain? Why were they in witness protection? How did he know the previous FETRU Captain?

It was those questions that was in Jack Savage’s head and many more. When he had acted all chummy to Wilde to try and get any sort of answer at all to those questions he hit a brick wall hard. Wilde gave up absolutely nothing, keeping details sparse and often meticulously working around his subtle probes. It made Wilde look even more suspicious, he got that the questions regarding his slain wife and daughter were a sore spot so he didn’t even try and go near them. But, the simple fact still remained…things just didn’t add up to the mammal that was Jameson Wilde.

So seeing him here with the first rabbit ZPD Officer at his side was quite the new conundrum, and one he wanted to get to the bottom of. Putting on a fake smile he began to walk over to the pair while saying “Special agent Wilde how good to see you!”

…

When James heard Savage speak with that false cheer he wanted to gag. He knew Savage didn’t like him, was suspicious of him, didn’t trust him, and he was fine with that. But what he wasn’t fine with was Savage acting like that wasn’t the case because it was quite frankly annoying just like his appearance here. He really didn’t want Judy finding out today that there was a bunny ZBI agent. So with exaggerated false cheer and a very forced smile James replied “Special Agent Savage! What a pleasant ( _gods kill me)_ surprise! What brings you here to FETRU’s area?”

Judy looked back and forth between the two, it was obvious they DID NOT like each other. But that was overshadowed by the fact that “ _There’s a rabbit ZBI agent!?!?”_

Savage gestured to the receptionist desk and replied with the same false cheer “just dropping off a few files pertaining to a warrant and the warrant itself. One of the cases I was working has reached its end and its time to move on it, its high risk and it needs to happen fast. That’s the entire definition of a job for FETRU. Now before we continue allow me to keep my manners.”

Jack Savage then turned to Judy and stuck out his right paw saying “I know your name Officer Hopps having seen you all over the news. But allow me to formally introduce myself, Special Agent Jack Savage.”

Judy took Savage’s outstretched paw and gave it a shake saying “Rookie Officer Judy Hopps. It’s a pleasure.”

Savage took his paw back and replied “likewise, so what brings you hear today Officer Hopps and in such fine company?”

Judy could recognize a probe when she saw one. She didn’t know why Agent Savage was probing but she wasn’t going to lie because there was no point. “Special Agent Wilde is my neighbor and a friend, he learned the ZPD doesn’t have adequate gear for me and decided to amend that by giving some spare gear from here.”

Savage nodded a couple times and replied “well isn’t that just a nice thing to do.”

Judy nodded once, she herself getting tired of Savage’s false cheer and smile already. “Yep it sure is…”

Savage saw a opportunity in this and he took it. “So Wilde, did you per chance get the proper clearance to give ZBI property to a ROOKIE ZPD cop?”

In that moment when Savage annunciated rookie more so than necessary James decided he’d had about Savage’s crap. “ _Too bad I can’t throttle him….”_

“Yes SAVAGE I got clearance alright, from our boss Assistant Director Winters. She doesn’t like you very much last time I checked, am I right? (He cuts off Savage) Yeah I’m right, and she likes me a hell of a lot more than you. Maybe she’d like to hear about all of the crap you’ve pulled regarding me? You know pulling files on me against regulation, meticulously researching my background and the backgrounds of others, pseudo interrogations, looking places you’re not allowed to look? Ring any bells?”

Savage was not expecting this at all and he was to shocked to form a rebuttal, or ask how James knew what he’d been doing. Judy for her part didn’t really know what exactly was happening, but she did know she did not really care for this Agent Jack Savage, so she was automatically on James’ side. James went ahead and answered the question in Savage’s head.

“You’re wondering how I know what you’ve been doing? I was in the CIA you idiot! And my wife and daughter were in witness protection! Any search on my name or theirs gets flagged! The second you looked me up I was made aware of what you were doing! From there I’ve patiently dealt with your bullcrap, false cheer and chumminess waiting for you to tire yourself out! Well I’m done now! You’ve done more time investigating me then you’ve spent on some of your cases! You’re wasting your time! If you want to investigate the mammals beside you join Internal Affairs I’m sure they’d be glad to have you!”

At this point Savage’s ears were pinned to his back and his nose was wiggling furiously at the sight of James barreling down on him. James closed his eyes and straightened his posture, taking a deep breath he decided to put this matter for rest to good, mixing the truth with his given CIA cover. “Look Jack you can be suspicious of me all you want…But I’m just a widower trying rebuild my life and put the pieces back together again. Those years I fell off map? I was living above a dingy gym drugged out of my mind on painkillers, and I stayed that way for years. There was one thing I did to make money, and that’s fight. During a street fight a CIA spook saw me, liked what he saw, and approached me. There he figured out I wasn’t just a good fighter, I was really smart too. Well he liked my smarts more, recruited me, kept it hush hush and off record to protect me because of how I was found. That’s it Savage, that’s my story. My family’s story is a different matter, and one I don’t want to tell, all you need to know is I saved my late wife from a very bad situation from very bad mammals and she needed protection from them. That’s it. So if you’ll excuse me and Officer Hopps we need to get going, goodbye.”

With that James and Judy following begind walked around the still frozen Jack Savage, and further into the building.

…

Judy didn’t know what just happened, all she did know was she just learned a lot more about Jameson Wilde. She allowed them to walk in silence for a minute more, then the questions on her tongue just had to be let out. “…Where you really..”

James answered before she finished, “Yes.”

“Did you really…”

“Yes.”

“Who the heck was that jerk? And why didn’t you tell me there was a rabbit ZBI agent?”

James paused a bit before answering. “That was Jack Savage, he transferred here just shortly before I did. He’s a investigator in Gangs, Trafficking, and Illegal Arms and he’s very good. He’s also a grade A prick. He has a reputation for irking mammals the wrong way and acting like he’s superior, he has a lot of talent, but he’s nowhere near the best. I didn’t tell you there was a rabbit in the ZBI because I didn’t feel it was important, you know how your job is actually more important than his because of my speech earlier. Besides you told me your dream was to always be a cop, not a federal agent.”

Judy nodded her head a few times and replied, “fair point. It’s true I never cared to be a federal agent, it just never really appealed to me….and yeah that guy, definitely a prick.”

James let out a chuckle at that and said “indeed, now follow me. Since Savage just wasted our time I have to brief my team first, then we can get you your gear.”

….

Judy followed James through a door and was immediately assaulted by noise. Looking around she quickly realized it was just like the bullpen at the precinct, just much smaller. The second James entered the room all dozen animals began to chant and bang their hind paws on the ground , the wolves unable to resist letting out howls.

Jameson walked to a fox sized podium and beckoned her to stand beside him on his left which she did. One she was in position James put up a paw and said “alright alright! We get it! Me and my good looks are here! Now settle down and sit down all of you so we can get started!”

This got a round of chuckles from the mammals present and Judy surveyed the room. The mammals present consisted of 75% predators and 75% of the mammals present were males. There were no small mammals present besides her and James, the rest medium sized to extra large sized. Judy looked at the individual mammals sitting in front of her left to right, front to back. Female grizzly bear, male oryx, male coyote, male tiger, male elephant, female cheetah, female lynx, male rhino, male lion, male jaguar, male grey wolf, and finally a wolf that looked like a fox at the same time.

As Judy stared at the strange wolf wondering if he was a hybrid the wolf with his intelligent sea foam green eyes called out, “I’m a Ethiopian Wolf ma’am, we just look like wolf-foxes.”

Judy immediately felt embarrassed for being caught staring. “I am so sorry! I don’t mean to stare! It’s just I’ve never seen your sub species before!”

The Ethiopian wolf smirked at her and called out “I’d be surprised if you did, we’re quite rare.”

At this point James chimed in. “Well Hunter if you stopped flirting with our female felines you might be able to help fix that!”

At that the whole room erupted in laughter at the now identified mammal, Hunter. Hunter laughed as well and replied “what can I say, I’m a lady’s mammal!”

The female cheetah didn’t hesitate. “In your dreams maybe!”

This got everyone laughing again and even Judy had to giggle a little. James put up a paw and said “alright alright! Before Hunter’s pride gets hurt anymore let’s get down to business as time is wasting! Luckily there’s only one thing on the docket for now!”

At this the male grey wolf next to Hunter chimed in. “The reason you’re wearing a full suit!?”

James shook his head a little at the antics and replied “as you well know by now, full suit means I’m on desk for the next 48 hours Fangsworth! So that means Hunter you got spear point today! Handle it right! Now no more jokes time to get serious!”

The light mood in the room changed immediately as everyone let out a chorus of “YES SIR!” As they sat at attention.

James looked around once and nodded in approval before continuing. “Okay so to start off today we got one item, a warrant that just hit me curtesy of Agent Savage! His case has wrapped up and it’s time to make arrests! FETRU is handling this because it’s high risk and sources say what’s inside is about to move and be gone to the wind so it’s gotta happen now!”

James grabbed a remote on the podium and turned on a overhead projector. “Our target is this warehouse located in the Canals District, it the storage depot for the Lobo Cartel! Inside is a lot of Heroin and a lot of cash, as well as at least two dozen heavily armed cartels at any given time! We do have an assist this raid, DEA has been watching this place to so they will be joining us! Fangsworth you coordinate with them! Plans simple! Warehouse has a lot of windows and four entrances, so you will spilt into four teams of three!”

James stepped away from the podium and walked in front of the projector and began to point at the various spots. “Team front entrance: Hunter, Valkyrie (female grizzly bear), Orion (Male oryx)! Team left entrance: Spotters (female cheetah), Horncase (Male Rhino), coyo (male coyote)! Team right entrance: Pointedear (female lynx), Trunkly (male elephant), Tigre (male tiger)! Team rear entrance: Fangsworth, Gatto (male lion), Whiskerton (Male Jaguar)! Plans pretty simple! Horncase, Trunkly, Gatto, and Valkyrie you four run shields keep your teammates covered! Orion, coyo, Tigre, and Tevor you four are breach and secondary! Hunter, Pointedear, Spotters, and Fangsworth you four are packing grenade launchers and launching tear gas into windows on your side then you follow in rear! That means everyone pack your masks! Once you make entrance DEA will roll front entrance! Move quick, stay behind your shield bearers, watch each others six! Teams you will run tranq rifles but keep lethal secondaries! Hunter you’re in charge once boots hit ground don’t let me down! That’s it dismissed! Stay safe and get back here in one piece! Move!”

At that all the mammals present rose and saluted before exiting out the door. James shut off the projector and said “Hunter will work out the rest of the finer details in route, that’s where most of the planning happens as it is. We’ll have to wait oh about two minutes before heading to the armory, so got any questions for me?”

Judy had about a million that she’d built up over the last to days, some smaller than others. Wracking her brain on which to pick she decided to return to a earlier topic of discussion while they were in the cruiser. “Is there anything I can do about my apartment?”

James didn’t anticipate this particular question to be asked, at least not now. “Well Judy I’m going to have to say that particular question is going to have to wait until lunch. It’ll take some time to answer accurately. So any others?”

Judy gave a small frown on her question being shut down for the time being so instead she picked another question. “What exactly is wrong with the gear I do have?”

Now this was a question he could answer, but where to start….”I can answer this question…hmm we’ll go from your feet up. So firstly those hind paw protectors are not bullet proof or anything really, they’ll protect you if you say step on a nail, but that’s it. In this job when you’re fighting a suspect who knows anything if they spot an unprotected hind paw, that’s what they are going for. If they injure your foot, you go down, you go down, you die. Next those pants, they are not water proof nor puncture proof, if you’re in the rainforest district or it’s just plain raining you’d be soaked to you’re under garments. The same issues go with your undershirt. You could definitely use a much better radio, at the least you could get one approved for law enforcement. You could use better cuffs. But, my biggest issue of gear that needs to be switched out is your vest.”

Judy tilted her head a bit at the last part, everything he had said so far about his issues with her current gear made sense. But not this one, this was her vest her Kevlar vest, what could be wrong with it? “My vest? What’s wrong with my vest?”

James looked at her like she was crazy and replied “are you kidding? What isn’t? Look it’s been long enough so let’s go and I’ll show you. A picture is worth a thousand words after all.”

Judy curiosity now even more peaked let out an “okay” as James opened the glass doors that his team used and held it for her. James quickly took the lead once she walked through the door and a few turns and a shirt walk later they entered FETRU Division’s personal armory. There was no door, just an entryway that they passed through. In the front of the room was a set of two dozen lockers each with a last name inscribed on it, there was also a closable divider for the lockers Judy noted were for the female members. In front of the lockers were sets of benches and past all of that was a giant caged area that was the FETRU armory itself and it was MASSIVE. Weapons and gear as far as the eye could see, which while it was an exaggeration it didn’t change how Judy felt.

Set to the right was a giant bear sized steel door and set in the middle of this cage was a big window where mammals could get handed their gear. As they walked towards it James gave some explanation. “So these lockers are where team members store their clothes and when they get back their gear. Once a mammal joins FETRU they get their own locker and they pick their own gear and weapons. Once they pick it’s theirs, our armorer maintains the stuff and supplies the ammo, and kicks rears if things are ill kept. The lockers are here and the gear theirs so it saves time, two minutes at least. The female members obviously have their own section and they have a divider to close to give them privacy, and our armorer watches the boys like a hawk so they don’t try and sneak peaks….though the girls would give them a proper thrashing if they did.”

Judy giggled at that immediately imagining the Ethiopian wolf with the last name Hunter getting thrashed by the female felines for trying to sneak a peak. Finally they reached the cage and James hit the bell that was on the table portion of the window. After just a few seconds coming around one of the shelves appeared a massive male grizzly bear. James gave the bear a big grin as he lumbered over to him and Judy and said “Marco! You got what I need today?”

Marco let out a deep rumbly chuckle as he lumbered over to them and replied with a slight Russian accent “what you need is head exam you crazy fox. But yes I have other thing you need, and it must be for you Officer.”

The second part he addressed to Judy who replied, “why yes indeed Mr..” Judy didn’t see a name tag and she knew Marco was probably the armorers first name but luckily he solved the problem for her.

“I am Marco Partrenski, I am the armorer here for FETRU and Ana Valkyrie’s husband, the FETRU female grizzly bear member! You will only call me Marco, no Mr. this and Mr. That!”

Judy liked Marco’s energy. “Well okay then Marco! Then you can call me Judy!”

Marco reached the the window finally and leaned down on it, giving her and James a big grin Marco proclaimed “I am honored!” Then he leaned in closer to the pair and looked Judy up and down. Once he was finished he tutted and said “Jameson was right, you’re gear is terrible! You’d be dead first aggressive and dangerous suspect regardless of your capabilities, one swipe and boom! That simply won’t do! Especially that terrible vest!”

Judy couldn’t believe this, now Marco was telling her that her vest was terrible. “Seriously what is wrong with my vest! It’s a Kevlar vest!”

Now Marco was looking at her like she was crazy. “Surely Judy you jest! (Judy shakes her head) No? Well then come Marco show you exactly what is wrong with your vest!”

At that Marco went to the steel door and opened it ushering them inside. Once her and James entered Marco relocked the door and said “Judy give vest.” Marco then held out a massive paw and Judy quickly undid the vest and handed it to him. Taking the vest Marco lumbered last them and said over his shoulder “follow.”

James and Judy followed Marco for a few moments until he came to a stop at a small firing range. “This is where Marco test weapons and new vests, we test yours now. Jameson explain.”

Jameson nodded and said “okay Judy so when we get new vests in and such Marco does three tests to see if they are good enough to be worn by us. First test, puncture test by knife, if you’re vest can’t stop a small blade, it will unlikely stop test two. Test two, gunfire, Marco starts at a 22. And builds to a 45. This is just a pistol test as it is the most common firearm to encounter. Test three, claws, starting at small predator claws and building to, well his. Judy the vest I wear will stop all knifes, pistol calibers up to 45. And past with ceramic plates, and it will stop my claws and Marco. Sure if a bear swipes me I’m flying and ribs are definitely at least cracked, but I’m not dead.”

Marco chimed in at this point, “Judy we will show just how bad vest is, I will put it on ballistics gel. Gel represent you, if holes in gel, you dead and vest fail. Time for test one, James?”

Judy looked at James wondering what was going to happen. Hearing all the tests her Kevlar vest was about to go through even she didn’t feel absolutely confident about it anymore. James nodded to Marco and James then walked over to the vest and gel pulling out the old school switchable he kept in his pocket. Flicking it open Jameson without pause stabbed it into the vest, and it went right through. Pulling out the knife he closed it and showed the whole in the vest and stab in the ballistics gel.

“Judy, test one, fail. A suspect pulled a knife on you and you weren’t able to react in time, he stabbed you in the chest and it went right through your vest and into your heart. You die instantly.”

Judy let out a gulp, of James hadn’t pointed out to her this, she could have, no probably would have died to the first suspect to pull a knife on her.

James saw the look on her face and said “now you’re beginning see. Now test two.”

Marco pushed the gel, it was on a cart, about 5 feet away as James grabbed a tiny 22. Pistol. Once the gel and vest was in position, earplugs were in, and Marco was back at their side James immediately fired a shot…it didn’t penetrate. James didn’t hesitate to grab a 9mm and fire a shot, and it went straight through and through impacting the wall behind it.

Putting a the pistol back down James sighed and said “Judy if it didn’t stop a 9mm it won’t stop any others from that distance…and again your dead. Test three.”

Marco lumbered over and wheeled the gel and vest back close and Judy would clearly see the whole right in the center of her vest and she could look straight through. It was very disheartening to see the vest she had been wearing wasn’t protecting her from anything and they weren’t even done. Marco looked to James and said “you swipe front, I’ll swipe back.”

Judy’s eyes immediately went to James right paw as her deep subconscious fear reared it’s ugly head. She watched as James unsheathed his claws and with a fast aggressive swipe he raked his claws across the front of her vest. When he did Judy immediately and involuntarily flinched as a paw went to her cheek where the three faint and thin scars from fox claws lied. It was something that did not go unnoticed by James or Marco and they exchanged a glance of slight concern.

Marco worried that Judy was afraid of predators was going to make her turn around but then he thought, “ _if she is scared of predator claws she doesn’t need to be cop. Maybe just fluke, need to make sure.”_

Marco without further hesitation walked to the back of the vest and gave it a mighty swipe, and in the end both the vest and ballistics gel were in ribbons on the floor. Marco has felt no resistance whatsoever. Marco made sure to watch Judy as he swiped and just like that, she didn’t even flinch. “ _She only flinch for fox claws….might be issue, Jameson probably noticed too.”_

Jameson did indeed notice and was even more concerned then before. “ _I’m gonna have to ask about this at some point….crap.”_

Judy stared at the remains of her Kevlar vest on the ground and the only thing she could thing to say was, “wow…you’re gonna have to reimburse me for that James.”

Jameson let out a small chuckle at her shocked joke and said “no problem. But now you see what was wrong with your vest. It’s was thin and a light based Kevlar, it’s designed to only stop small mammal weaponry and be light as a feather. It’s not designed to be an officers vest Judy. Your new vest will stop all pistol calibers, is stab proof, and fang and claw proof. It’s going to keep you alive, and if you take a hit give you a second chance and instead of a trip to the morgue, the hospital.”

Judy nodded slowly at that, still shocked that if James hadn’t pointed out the vests terrible quality she would have been killed eventually. But then something else clicked for her, “um guys that vest is going to be standard issue for every small mammal cop….it’s the one I was shown at the academy….and bigger mammals vests are that different unless they buy there own.”

This both shocked and surprised Marco and James and Marco exclaimed “Holy mackerel that’s not good!”

James shifted and looked at Judy saying “are you sure?”

Judy nodded once. “Dead sure.”

As an armorer, this apparently pissed Marco off as he slammed a fist on a nearby table. “This will not stand! Officers could and will die if this is the quality of vests they have! Does ZPD not have good budget for vests! Preposterous! This needs amending immediately! Come!”

At that Marco quickly took off in a brisk pace back the way they came causing Judy and James to have to jog to keep up. Once they reached the front of the cage again Marco dipped down and picked up a small box, for him at least, and handed it to James before opening the giant door and ushering them through. “Here is gear for Judy now go go go. I need to make phone calls. I have tons of vest we not use anymore just laying around, need to see if I can let and get ZPD to take! Good day!”

And with that Marco shut the steel door behind them and quickly disappeared from sight. Judy’s new gear in paw and looking at the clock on the wall am seeing the time James brushed what just happened off and said, “so….lunch?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Done! Yes I know I know we didn’t get to Judy’s first real patrol but this chapter quickly got filled up! Look on the bright side that’s basically the entire next chapter now! Yay! 
> 
> So one thing that was not panned this chapter until I started writing it was introducing Jack Savage and the drama that ensued with it. As I was writing Judy and James entering the ZBI it kinda just…happened. From there though everything went as planned. Did you see some cameos from one of my other story??? 
> 
> So something that I’ll explain now, the situation with Judy’s vest. I told you all that I would be adding more realism to the police job and this is sadly a part of it. Judy got a bad quality vest, why? Budget reasons. In real life budgets for vests are TERRIBLE and a lot of departments can't afford them, leaving officers to have to buy their own. It's why a lot of officers you will see them not having one. Police departments around the globe often times receive the LEAST amount of funding or not enough. So departments need to make compromises, and vests often times are a big one. A lot of times departments need to rely on their parties to raise money for them or to have vests donated. So case in point here, ZBI donates a vest, and other gear, to Judy. 
> 
> Next time on A True Brother! James and Judy have a conversation over lunch and Judy goes on her first real patrol! (For real this time!) 
> 
> So that’s all I had so until next time this is TheConcernedF0X signing off! See you next time!


	7. First Patrol

Judy and James exited the FETRU armory and James quickly said “follow me.” Before walking off with the box that contained her new gear. Judy didn’t have time to question where he was going and instead went to catch up, a few turns later they entered the office portion of the facility, a bunch of cubicles dead center and to the left two offices. One of which had Captain Jameson K. Wilde inscribed upon it. Judy assumed this was their destination and she was right, Jameson quickly unlocked the door and said “come on in, let’s see the goodies you got.”

Judy entered behind Jameson and looked around, it was a simple office grey in color. A desk with two chairs in front one rolling behind it, a nice computer system, coat hanger directly to her right, bookshelf tucked into the back left corner, and commendations and such hanging up on the walls. James set the box down on one of the chairs and said “okay come see what you got.”

Judy kinda felt like a kit at Christmas unwrapping a present as she skipped over to the box and opened it and it was filled to the brim with new gear. Judy pulled out the first item on top of a new utility built packed with goodies including some actual pepper spray. James explained why she got a new utility belt, “Your current utility belt is a little lacking, not many pouches etc, this belt lets you carry more and is only slighter lighter thanks to the material. Inside you’ll find a set of four med-large paws cuffs and a set of the two long long cuffs. You also got an asp baton here, and a window breaker tool, not to mention the holsters for your tranq gun and lethal firearm. You can turn in your old belt with all the other stuff to the ZPD.”

Judy nodded before pulling out the next two items, her tranq gun and lethal firearm. “Those are self explanatory. Your tranq gun is a Sparrowtail Traq Special sized of course for your paw, it’s made by Sparrowtail Industries so it’s top of the line. it holds 12 med-large tranq darts charged with CO2, I bet when Bogo gave you a tranq it would have been one of those one shot pieces of garbages so this is a much better option. For your lethal firearm I looked up the weapons they gave you at the academy to use and called to see which one you favored. So here it is a PX4 Storm Black Doe Special, but there is one slight difference: this one is chambered in 40 S&W instead of 9mm.”

As Judy opened the box and took the weapon out, making sure to clear it first she asked, “why’d you change it?”

James nodded once and replied “quite simple really, better stopping power. This round hits like a 45. But without the added recoil….it’s almost like a hybrid between the two calibers. These rounds will drop larger mammals faster and stop drugged up suspects faster. We can take you to a range so you can try it out.”

Judy simply nodded, accepting his answer before placing the gun back in this box and then grabbing the next item, an actual police issue walk-in with some additional stuff. “Those additionals are optional Judy, just stuff I personally use. One is a wire connecting to an earpiece, the second is a throat Mike, I find them to be more tactical. But, I also included the traditional radio stuff too.”

The items Judy pulled out were three sets of new pants, hind and forepaw protectors, and shirts. Just looking at them she could tell they were thicker and made of a different material, but they still held the same appearance and color as her current ones. Those needed explaining so instead she pulled out the next item it was a pouch filled with small zip tie cuffs. “This you can attach to your belt or your thigh, these will handle any smaller mammals like say a fox or a bunny you need to apprehend. They’re extra thick so a small predator can’t cut through them, and they can’t be broken period…..hmm well unless they're like a bodybuilder or something.”

Judy nodded before reaching in the box for the last item, James had saved the best for last because it was her vest. Pulling it out Judy admired it, it was twice as thick as her now shredded vest and differently bigger. “ _Now I’ll be covered past just my breasts.”_

The vest was the same color blue as her old one with black accents, and definitely made of a different material, and as she flipped the vest over on the upper back portion was ZPD in big white letters. James smirked as Judy flipped the vest back and forth as if mesmerized by it. “Alright Judy, that was the big ticket item, your new vest. It has a IIIA class rating so it’s one of the best, it mixes tensile and shear strength overlaying side by side to maximize its protection. It also has a unique ballistic mesh weave that helps absorb hard impacts, granted you’ll still get hit hard but you shouldn’t collapse like a can. Hard plates are mixed inside to cover the most vital areas but do not hinder movement. Overall this vest is a bit heavier then your old one but that’s a compromise to being able to take a hit and live.”

Judy nodded along as she looked at the vest still admiring it, it was a piece of art in her mind. James chuckled and said “I take it you like it?”

Once again Judy just nodded. “Well then why don’t you go put it all on? Then we can head to lunch. There’s a bathroom just outside.”

Judy jumped at the opportunity and dumped everything back in the box quickly and lifted it up a bounce in her step as she headed to the door, her excitement palpable. James chuckled again and went over to the door opening it for her and letting it close, the door to the bathroom was pushed open so she could get through it fine.

***

Judy pushed the door to the bathroom open and went in. She was so excited to get all of her new gear on and see what she looked like with it all on and luckily as she set the box down she saw that there was a full body mirror in the room. Judy didn’t bother looking for a stall to use, no one besides her and James was in this section of the building so she had no worries of someone walking in.

Judy quickly stripped off all her remaining old gear and tossed them to the side as she dug into the box. She put on the new pants first followed by the foot protectors, and then the shirt. After that Judy then strapped on the paw protectors. Pausing once those were on Judy took a look at her form in the mirror, it was obvious the clothes were more padded than her old ones. But, where the old ones hugged her curves these ones did not play to that they instead simply went to protecting her. This made her look less feminine, and more tactical.

Judy then put on her new utility belt making sure things were positioned where she wanted them. Next she grabbed her new radio and put it in its proper slot and then looked at the attachments she was offered. After a small amount of internal debate she decided on the traditional microphone that she’d clip to her vest. Next she opened the box for her PX4 Storm and loaded the mag in there chambering a round and clicking the safety off. If she needed to use it, having the safety on could cost her precious seconds.

Judy placed the lethal firearm in the holster on her right hip and then she unboxed the Tranq gun. Judy loaded a mag and chambered a dart before bolstering it in the holster on her left hip. She was very comfortable with the tranq gun being familiar with the model. Next she put on the pouch with the zip tie cuffs securing it on her left thigh.

All that was left for Judy to put on was her new vest which Judy strapped on with glee. It immediately became apparent that it was most definitely heavier than her old vest but she would get used to the weight difference. The vest covered her entire torso and abdomen other than just her breasts immediately making her feel much more safe. 

Once the vest was on Judy wasted no time putting on the microphone and pinning on her badge. Once that was done a Judy gave the badge a little rub and then looked at herself in the mirror. Now Judy LOOKED like a real cop as much as she was starting to feel like one. Gone was her old uniform that basically just hugged her feminine form and in its place was good gear that was going to keep her safe. “ _And gods does it feel good!”_

Judy couldn’t resist the temptation to pull out her phone and snap a picture of her in her new uniform going for a simple pose and a big smile. Judy couldn’t believe how good she felt at this moment. Next she decided to walk, leap, and hop around to see just how much of a weight difference she was dealing with and if it hindered her movement. She quickly found that it did but only marginally like James predicted it would. She couldn’t leap as high as before a few inches taken off, she was only a second or two slower on sharp turns, and she figured the weight difference would show in a run hurting her endurance. But these were compromises she was willing to take as she could work to get those lost inches and seconds back.

Finally satisfied with her tests and checks here she decided it was high time she rejoined James. Scooping up her old gear she promptly dumped them in the box before picking it up and walking out the door.

***

James had left the door open for Judy to be able to walk back in once she was done, but she was taking longer than he thought it should. He was wondering what that might be when a thought occurred to him “ _oh she’s probably testing the movement and weight difference….or she’s just actually using the restroom.”_

Deciding it was one or the other James decided to do a little bit of paperwork while he waited…but then he felt his phone start to buzz. Taking it out he looked at the caller ID and his heart skipped a beat, it was his mom. James froze up immediately, he couldn’t answer this call, he’d freeze up and not be able to speak a single word. Hopefully she would leave a voicemail, it's the way he was banking on. He could work up the courage to listen to a voicemail from his mom, but an actual conversation not knowing if she would shun him or accept him was absolutely terrifying. “ _Gods I’d rather be Scythe again!”_

Suddenly he was startled when Judy asked “what’s wrong? Who’s that calling you?”

Judy had walked into Jameson’s office all happy and chipper, but when she saw James giving his phone a thousand yard stare while looking absolutely terrified…Happiness was replaced with concern so she had to ask the question. James looked up at her in shock as he put his phone face down still buzzing. He immediately tried to throw her off her question by putting on a smirk and saying “well look at you Judy, now you look like a real cop and a real force to be reckoned with. How’s the new uniform feel?”

James was hopeful Judy would take the bait and not push on her question…but she didn’t. “James, please. Tell me what’s wrong, you look absolutely terrified. Who’s calling you?”

James deflated a bit as he murmured “my mother.”

Judy was confused, she knew James and Nick were estranged but was he really with his mother too? “Okay James, but why is that so terrifying? It’s your mom?”

James deflated even more and shame laced his tone. “Judy when I was sixteen I ran away from home in the dead of night…I haven’t seen nor spoken to my mom since then. It’s been 16 years Judy. SIXTEEN YEARS. It wasn’t because I didn’t love her…it was because of fear and shame. Last night I called her for the first time at a time I knew she would let it go to voicemail so I could tell her everything that’s happened in that 16 years….this is going to be her response….her telling me I can Come back into her life…or if I’ll be turned away for what I’ve done.”

At the end of his explanation James looked dejectedly to his desk and hung his head in his paws. Saying it out loud to another mammal about how he abandoned his mother made him feel like the worst son and mammal in the world. Not to mention he already felt like the worst brother…all around he had nothing to feel but shame. He stayed in the position for a few moments, and then he felt a paw on his arm.

James didn’t budge until Judy let out a gentle “hey. “

James took his head out of his paws and gave her a side glance to see Judy giving him a caring and reassuring smile. “James it’s your mom and she hasn’t seen you in 16 years. There’s NO possible way she would turn you away no matter what you’ve done. I’m sure she just wants her son back in her life.”

James gave Judy a small smile and replied “yeah you're probably right Judy. It’s just I’m so….scared that I won’t be able to mend the bridges I’ve burnt. But it’s my mom….yeah you are right…Thanks Judy, seriously.”

Judy gave him another smile as she stepped back and said “anytime.”

James nodded once before replying “now back to my earlier point, now you do really look like a real cop. How do you feel? Any issues?”

Judy beamed up at him and said “I feel great and protected! I mean come on I now have a vest that covers more than my breasts! As far as issues go, none really, it’ll just be an adjustment for the weight difference of this new gear. I can’t leap as high and such but as I get used to this gear that’ll change.”

James nodded and said “well that’s just fantastic. I also see you went for the traditional microphone which I kinda expected. Now if that vest gets damaged Judy brings it head to Marco and he’ll fix it up or replace it if need be no charge. So we can hit the range later in the day, so that leaves one thing. Lunch!”

James had decided on a nice vegetarian place right by Judy’s patrol route to take her to lunch called Plains Place. Foxes were omnivores so eating veggies wasn’t an issue, and a fox who lived with bunnies even more so. James pulled into a spot right in front of the restaurant dedicated for public service mammals and exited the car Judy following right behind.

They were greeted at the door by a cheery female deer waitress “Hello Officer and oh Special Agent! Welcome to Plains Place and thank you for all you do! We haven’t quite hit the lunch rush yet so you can pick where you two wish to be seated!”

James defected no false cheer in her tone about him being a fox so there was none in his. “Why thank you kindly, we’ll take a window booth close to the door please and thank you. Oh and this will be one check.”

The waitress gave an “okay!” Before leading them to a window booth. James took a seat facing the door and Judy took the opposite. Once seated the waitress said “okay so my name is Sandra and I’ll be serving you today! Can I get you started on some drinks?”

James could see Judy needed a second so he went first. “I’ll have the raspberry juice.”

Judy hearing the words raspberry juice instantly made that her selection, it sounded too good not to try. “I’ll have that as well!”

Sandra jotted that down and said “Okay I’ll be right back!”

The second she was gone James said “quiz time. Why did I pick a window booth and why did I face the door?”

Judy was surprised by the question but quickly answered “you picked a window booth so you could see anyone coming towards the restaurant and you sat to face the door so if a robber is coming forth you can react immediately instead of having your back to them.”

“Correct Judy! Now switch seats.”

Judy stood and swapped with James and once they were both seated he said “whenever you enter a restaurant that position should always be the one you take on duty or off. Be insistent with servers even explain why if you have to.”

Judy nodded a couple times and James said “next question and this one will be trickier! What do you do if a suspect you are chasing goes into Little Rodentia?”

Judy had to think hard about this, they were taught the procedures but briefly and there were several different routes if she remembered correctly….so she went with a technically correct answer “call it in.”

James chuckled and said “well technically. The first step is indeed to pause your pursuit and call it in, once you call it in a alarm will go off in Little Rodentia the instructs cars to pull over to the side of the road and rodents to remain on the sidewalks. It is imperative at this point that you DO NOT follow the perp in. This will allow the perp to calm down and not trample and rodents or topple structures. Next you go to one of the four law enforcement doors. These doors are in case regular sized officers need to go into Little Rodentia, the code will be relayed to you through dispatch. The goal is to cut them off and flush them back out. Other officers should block exits so he flushes out one hole. Worst case you have to arrest them in there.”

Judy nodded, the Academy had given the basics on this scenario but not the detail that James did so she had to ask. “Wow the academy didn’t even go into such detail. How do you know this?”

“It was covered on my first day actually. In the ZBI we are taught this scenario because once an agent chased a suspect into Little Rodentia. In the end he tripped, fell, and killed 14 rodents. Including four children. After that the ZBI made sure that wasn’t going to happen again.”

Judy was a little saddened by hearing that but luckily the waiter showed up with their drinks. “Here you two go! Do you need another minute to look at the menu?”

James already knew what he wanted so he looked at Judy, “you ready?”

Judy made a quick glance at the menu and made a selection. “I’ll have a small Meadowlands style salad with extra balsamic vinaigrette.”

In truth Judy would have liked to have gotten a large but James was buying. But James obviously wasn’t having it. “I’ll have the Feta Salad large, and oh she’ll be having the large as well not the small since the small size is basically a snack for her.”

The waitress Sandra smirked at that and said “You got it! I’ll put these right in!”

Judy gave him a look while he was taking a big sip of his juice and he paused it to smirk at her. “What? I know bunnies eat a lot when it comes to eating greens, or anything in general. I know my bunny habits and biology. I’m wealthy, you're hungry, you getting a large isn’t going to break my bank. So don’t be modest, get two larges if you want. I know what happens when bunnies are hungry!”

Judy had to concede. What James said was completely true, bunnies when hungry become agitated. In other words hangry and in fact Judy hadn’t met a bunny that didn’t become hangry. So as much as Judy wanted to refute that statement she just couldn’t. So instead she crossed her arms and said, “fine! But one of these days I am going to buy!”

James didn’t hesitate to reply “ooo in that case I’ll be sure to pick somewhere nice and fancy!”

Judy let out a small laugh at that and replied “I can always forget my wallet!”

James let out a chuckle and said “fair enough. So I know you want to talk about your apartment, but is there anything else? Maybe lighter? If you prefer to have our food before handling that particular topic.”

Judy could understand that so she thought of lighter questions she could ask, and two quickly came to mind. “That’s okay, I got a couple I can ask. First one is what’s up with the white fur on the top of your head? Is it common for foxes or Is that dye or something else?”

James ran a paw through said white fur on his head and replied, “This? No it isn’t dye and it’s quite rare for foxes. What this is, is a genetic fur disorder that causes white fur to show up in places it shouldn’t be. Luckily it usually shows up in spectacular fashion like it on the top of my head running downthe back of my neck and up the sides of my ears. As well as the undersides of my arms and one other place. I was given this disorder by my mother, hers gave her a fantastic swirl on her back.”

Judy was going to ask what that other area was but quickly figured it out mouthing a oh. Quickly shaking it off she asked her next question. “Okay so that answered that question which by the way that is really cool. So my next question, last night at dinner you said you weren’t religious. So why do you have the mark of Serendipity tattooed over your heart? And what’s with the two added stars?”

James was wondering when she’d ask about this. So he technically told her the truth. “It’s true I’m not overly religious, and I hold to that. But, it was a few weeks after my wife and daughter died and I was on death's door. Well one night I passed out and had an extremely lucid dream. In it it was reunited with my family and visited by Serendipity who bestowed upon me a blessing while my family reminded me of promises made. When I woke up the next day I decided to keep the promises and got the tattoo to remind me of them. The two stars are for my two does, I called them my starlights. Sarah was my northern light and Rachel was my little star.”

Judy was intrigued by the dream but saddened by the rest. She still couldn’t even imagine what he had gone through losing them. But she cooed at the last part, she could just imagine James using those nicknames and it was sweet he commemorated them. It also reaffirmed her conviction that she was going to see if the murders were ever caught.

After that question they talked for another minute or two before the waitress Sandra arrived with their lunches. “One large feta salad for the fox agent and one large Meadowlands style salad for the rabbit Officer! If you two need anything else give me a holler!” 

Judy and James thanked her and dug into their lunches, once their salads were halfway gone James paused his meal and said “now we can address the apartment issue sense you’re no longer liable to bite my head off.”

Judy giggled at that as she paused her eating, a quarter of her amazing salad left. “Great, so what do you think are my options?”

James nodded and after a quick sip of his drink said “well I’ve been thinking on this and there’s a few options and actions you can take. Option one is you confront the landlady and demand your rent be lowered, telling her you know that you are being overcharged for such a small apartment. Odds are that she just finds a way to kick you out in response. But if she isn't sure you’re paying less rent but you’re still in a broom closet. Option two is you go back to the drawing board and move out of that apartment, either rent a different one in the Grand Pangolin Arms or look for a new building period. You could use the tip I gave you and search for a larger mammal sized apartment, but then you’d have to pay for all the ladders, walkways, etc. The final option I can think of is what I think the best route is, which is to find an apartment looking for a roommate. Shared rent, more space, companionship which is big for you bunnies, and more. You could also of course just grin and bear living in the broom closet until you built up enough funds to afford a better place.”

Judy had to admit, James really had been thinking about it. She had only really thought about option one and a little a bit about the second one he said. But she wouldn’t know where to start for that, and the price tag looked pretty decently sized. Option one seemed the least expensive….but as Jameson had just said, she’d still be living in a broom closet and odds are the stingy landlady would just kick her out. The last choice was absolutely out of the question, now that she knew she was living in a broom closet and paying basically the same price as everyone else in the complex with more. So that only really left one option…

Judy stabbed her fork into her salad and said, “Well option two is definitely out, I couldn’t possibly afford all the things I would need to do. Option one doesn’t feel ideal at all for me, and DEFINITELY neither does four. So all in all that just leaves option three moving in with someone and being their roommate. It nips my independent doe lifestyle in the butt but knowing that I’m living in a broom closet and a overpriced one at that? There’s no way I am going to wait the amount of time it would take to afford a new place, I would rather do that while doing option three. So it looks like I need to look for someone looking for a roomie, that alone will take some time and I don’t even know where I can start. I mean I could ask around at the ZPD but this is only my second day here…”

Unbeknownst to Judy, James has been working a plan throughout the day, and he completed it while Judy was getting geared up. Now it was time to enact it. “Well Judy I know where you can start, there’s a website specifically for looking for roommates as such, you can add your ideal location, price range, and a few other options. You can get really specific with what you want, here give me your phone number and I’ll text you the link.”

Judy immediately gave him an excited smile and exclaimed “that’s great! Thank you so much!”

Judy quickly relayed her phone number to Jame who punched it into his phone, sending the link out immediately. Judy quickly felt her phone buzz and pulled it out to see a text that read “ _courtesy of your friendly neighborhood fox.”_ And the link attached under it. Judy couldn’t help but snort at his added bit before adding him as a contact.

Judy and James after that dug back into their salads Judy setting up her preferences to start searching for a mammal in need of a roomie. James didn’t want to distract her from her search so he took this time to get an update from his team, the raid was just about to start and he wanted to make sure there were no issues. After he sent his text a reply came from Hunter in seconds “ _Teams are set, DEA decided to split their team and stack behind ours, they are making entrance with us set up as up. Comms will be open for you as always and cameras on.”_

James didn’t bother replying and decided it was time to wrap things up. His plate and cup was empty and Judy had just finished hers. He didn’t want to rush through things but he needed to be on comms with his team. So James waves their waitress Sandra over as he said “hey Judy my team is about to make entrance on the raid and I need to be on comms with them, so we need to wrap this up.”

Judy quickly nodded understanding, “okay I understand it’s about time for me to go on patrol anyway.”

James nodded as Sandra came up with their bill. “Ready to pay?”

James gave her a smile and replied “sure am.”

Taking the bill from Sandra he quickly looked at it and pulled out the amount in cash and a 30% tip. “Here you go Sandra, and you have a lovely day.”

Sandra gave him a big grin as she replied “thank you so much agent! The same goes to you! You two stay safe now!”

James and Judy stood and began to head for the door Judy waving and saying “we sure will!”

Judy and James exited the restaurant and as soon as they did James said “well Officer I wish you good luck on your first day of patrol, stay safe, make some arrests, keep me updated!”

Judy gave him a smile as she replied “I’ll try my best! And again thank you so much!”

James gave her a double thumbs up before climbing in his cruiser, starting his cruiser, and pulling away. Judy watched him drive away before taking on a determined look as she said “let’s do this.”

…

Judy had been on patrol for about two and a half hours and so far it had been pretty uneventful, half a dozen selfies with mammals, about 15 greetings, and only two arrests. One of them was a male zebra purse snatcher that ran into her literally, he half tried to run or fight before immediately giving up…which was sort of anticlimactic. The second arrest was a male bunny who thought it would be a smart idea to smack her ass as she walked by, now that arrest was…therapeutic.

That arrest though had been an hour ago, and as she walked her route she couldn’t help but feel…bored. Not to mention no calls had come over the radio yet…but something told him a certain water buffalo was responsible for that particular. Something she updated James as a potential issue, which he said he would be looking into if it continued.

_“Judy I can understand if you’re not getting calls today from my perspective, of course mine doesn’t come with rampant speciesism but I digress. An officer on their first day, on foot patrol, with no partner…getting calls wouldn’t be a smart call. Bogo on one paw could be giving you a trial run to see if you can handle the beat, but on the other he could be deliberately withholding calls because he's a dick. Lol. If the issue persists then I’ll handle it. Until now walk the beat, eyes up, check alleys, etc. keep me posted.”_

Judy reread that particular text hoping James was right, after this morning she hoped she wouldn’t have any more issues from Bogo so that she could prove herself so much he’d be forced to apologize..but so far it wasn’t shaping up to be that way, which was disappointing.

She walked around for about another fifteen minutes before finally a call to action was heard. “Someone stop that weasel he just robbed my shop!”

Judy took off like a rocket and rounded the corner to see a pig down the way pointing at a weasel as he ran away a duffel bag in hand. Judy took off immediately yelling to the pig as she pasted “don’t worry sir I’ll get him!”

The pig barely managed to get a “thank you!” Out before Judy was out of earshot and in pursuit of the weasel. The weasel had already slowed down his run confident he wasn’t being chased, that is until Judy called out “ZPD! Stop!”

The weasel immediately looked back to see a female bunny rabbit..cop spiriting towards him and gaining ground fast. “Aw crap!” The weasel seeing a bunny cop coming right at him quickly turned and took off in a full sprint confident he could lose her, he knew who she was, this was only her second day. “Catch me if you can cottontail!”

Judy internally fumed a little at that and cursed when the weasel doubled his speed and took off towards crowds of mammals, no way she could tranq him and be done with the chase. So instead she kicked up her speed as well but she could already tell she was a little bit slower with the new gear, but as long as he stayed in sight. Judy quickly keyed her mic.

“This is Officer Hopps! Foot pursuit on a 211 suspect! Going south towards city square from Tallgrass Street! Need assistance!”

The response came quick “Hopps?......this is Officer McHorn I am in the vicinity responding.”

“10-4!”

Judy let go of the mic as she continued her pursuit of the weasel and she was slowly starting to gain some ground, now maybe three seconds behind him. But unfortunately for now Judy figured it would stay that way as they burst into city square. The weasel clearly knew the city as he bobbed in weaves past and in some cases under larger mammals.

Judy was starting to lose ground again as she tried to skirt around mammals and keep from being stomped on. Finally sick of it she yelled as loud as she could “ZPD MOVE MOVE MOVE!”

This did the trick as many mammals quickly froze, looked, and moved out the way as quickly as they could. Just as that happened a ZPD cruiser pulled up and Officer McHorn jumped out and over the mic said “Hopps he’s heading towards Little Rodentia! Stop him now!”

McHorn was an old school officer, hearing there was a bunny cop coming to the precinct was ridiculous, seeing her even more so. No way she could do the job, and this morning when she hadn’t shown for roll call he hadn’t been surprised in the slightest to see she had quit. So when he received the call over the radio that the bunny he thought had quit was in pursuit of a suspect confused him greatly. But, still he was obligated to respond, and when he just caught a glimpse of her just now in full police regalia instead of that skimpy dollar store looking costume…his confusion and intrigue doubled.

Judy, hearing that he was heading towards Little Rodentia, put on her afterburner as she kicked up her speed pushing herself to catch the weasel. But she was about two seconds late as the weasel tossed the bag of stolen goods over the fence and slid through one of the tiny entrances that rodents went through. Judy was about to follow him straight in but quickly remembered what James had said earlier at lunch so she stopped, cursed, and then keyed her mic.

“Dispatch suspect has entered little Rodentia! I say again the suspect has entered Little Rodentia! I need immediate assistance to flush him out!”

Instead of the dispatcher from earlier, it was Clawhauser’s voice she heard say “10-4 Hopps three officers are one minute out to block exits, sounding the alarm now. Hopps since you are a bunny you are cleared for entrance into LR, go to one of the assigned doors. Code is E27L481.”

Judy was kind of glad it was Clawhauser she heard and she replied “10-4 thanks Clawhauser!”

Letting go of the mic she turned around as she felt more than heard McHorn approaching as she heard the alarm begin to sound inside Little Rodentia. “He got in, didn’t he? (He didn’t wait for her answer) darn, well I’ll hold this entrance when you go flush him. You’re the smallest so you gotta go in. There’s a door a quarter mile that way so run, hopefully he’ll have stopped running seeing you not go in after him. But still hurry bunny!”

Judy didn’t even bother to reply as she took off in a sprint towards the door, she reached it in just under two minutes and quickly jumped up so she could reach the keypad. As she typed the code in she heard over the radio “This is McHorn set blocking south exit, how copy?”

“Officer Dirk, I got East covered.”

“Wolford, covering west.”

“Fangmeyer, waiting at the North.”

That meant an Officer was waiting at every exit, the weasel hadn’t escaped, and he wouldn’t. Finally done entering the code Judy heard another alarm sound as the steel door began to slide open. Not waiting for it to open all the way Judy darted through the opening and looked around. It was basically a mini city, and as James had said the streets were empty, every car pulled to the side of the streets and rodents kept to the sidewalks. Right now she was on a street that leads right to the center of LR, so that was her goal, she’d spot him there for sure.

Duke weaselton was very satisfied at the moment. He had lost the bunny cop, he still had his score, and he was going to get paid. He knew the cop wouldn’t follow him in here, so all that was left was to slink to one of the other exits and slip right back out. “Hehe suckers.”

Suddenly though his confidence was dashed a bit when an alarm began to sound and he watched as every tiny car pulled over to the sod of the road and every tiny rodent on foot sought shelter. “Ah crap.”

Duke then turned back figuring the Bunny would loop around since she didn’t follow him in. But instead of an empty exit he saw a giant rhino officer smiling at him. “Yeah come on come this way, make this easy on yourself! Because the longer you run the more charges we are going to hit you with!”

Duke, though shaken, was not about to give up so he said “Ah shove it you low rent unicorn!” Before turning and taking off again hopeful he could get out one of the other exits, or at the very least slip past an officer guarding one. Duke began to run towards the center of Little Rodentia staying low as he did and once he rounded a building to be in the center he found the bunny cop standing about ten feet away from him.

The bunny cop gave him a smile as she said “Hi there! You’re _so_ under arrest so please stop resisting, put the bag down, turn around, and put your paws behind your back!”

Duke was not about to go down. Looking around for a way around her he spotted a big donut on top of a donut shop just a few feet behind him. Clutching his bag tight he called out “fat chance Floppsy come and get me!” Before turning and running towards the mini donut shop.

Judy let out a groan of annoyance as the weasel took off again. She immediately took off after him but quickly had to duck as the weasel through his bag in the air, pulled a big plastic so off the top of a donut shop, and threw it at her saying “have a donut copper!”

Judy dove to the ground and quickly looked behind her seeing it was heading straight for two female shrews. Judy quickly stood and leaped, grabbing it just before it crushed one of the shrews who let out a shrill scream right as it was about to impact. Judy let out a sigh of relief as she saw she caught it in time and quickly belted out a comment to the shrew. “Oh I love your hair!”

The screw immediately smiled at her as she replied “oh thank you!”

Judy turned donut in paw fuming as she saw the weasel still standing in the same place waiting to catch his duffel bag. Judy looked at the donut, looked at the weasel, looked at the donut, looked at the weasel. Then a plan formed.

Duke was satisfied the donut would distract the cottontail cop long enough so he waited for his bag to fall right back into his paws. “Come to papa.”

The bag fell right into his paws just as planned and he was about to take off again when he heard a “Hey!” Dangerously close to him. Weaselton whipped around to see a very pissed off bunny holding the donut he just threw at her high above her head. There was only one thing he could think to say…. “Aw crap.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done! Next chapter will open up with Judy escorting Weaselton into the ZPD, but PROPERLY this time! And not the highly illegal excessive force way! 
> 
> I hope I handled the gear portion well and I hope you all enjoyed the lunch scene, let me know what you thought! 
> 
> So as I said before I would be addressing moments that were not up to actual code for police officers. Now while real officers don’t have to deal with a mini city filled with mini people they do have to NOT illicit mass panic and such. Which is EXACTLY what Judy does in the Little Rodentia scene in the movie, yes it was fun and entertaining…but it was also not following how police would handle that situation in the slightest. So I amended that, and I think I handled it well! Right?
> 
> Now I know the lunch conversation about the LR scenario was a little on the nose but that was the best way I could describe the procedure that I came up with that was proper and acceptable. Besides we all knew that seen was coming up so either way we knew what was about to happen right? Right? 
> 
> Okay so that’s all I had I think. So next time on A True Brother! Judy brings in Duke and gives Bogo a report! Then!!!...............you’ll have to read to find out! Haha no spoilers for you! 
> 
> So until then this is TheConcernedF0X signing off! See you next time!


	8. A Testy Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello! It’s the next chapter of ATB! This is a big chapter with a lot going on so strap in! 
> 
> I will keep this brief so please if you are reading this on FF.net fav and/or follow and review! If on A03 please drop some kudos and a comment!

Judy escorted Weaselton into Precinct One in cuffs, having removed the donut she used to trap him and cuffing him. Once she had radioed that she had him she was instructed to hitch a ride and bring him in, Bogo wanted to speak to her. Judy of course figured Bogo was going to try and reprimand her for something but her arrest was textbook, and she glued the donut back on the shop so she couldn’t get in trouble for that. Maybe it was procedure to talk to an officer that had to go into Little Rodentia?

Either way once again she was going to be facing a Chief that wished her to fail, and honestly probably despised her. Judy had hitched a ride with Officer Wolford and he seemed pretty nice, kept the conversation light, asked a few questions, and congratulated her on a solid arrest. Judy couldn’t detect any negative tone in his voice either so that in her book was an improvement on yesterday.

Judy escorted Duke over to the front desk Clawhauser waiting there for you with a happy dance and a small squeal. “ O M goodness! You got him Judy good job! And You! You are a very naughty Weasel!”

Duke rolled his eyes and was about to speak but a harsh warning glare from the bunny cop advised him against that so he quickly shut his maw. Judy smiled up at Clawhauser and said “Thanks! I need to go report to Bogo so someone will need to walk him over to processing. He needs to be booked on grand larceny, resisting arrest, assault on a police officer, aggravated assault on a rodent, and illegally entering Little Rodentia.”

Duke was surprised at the amount of charges he heard. “What!? Oh come on that donut didn’t even hit you! And I wasn’t throwing it at no rodent! That shrew is fine!”

Judy simpler ignored him as a pig officer came and grabbed Weaselton escorting him away. Judy quickly went up the steps to Bogo’s office. Knocking twice she heard Bogo grunt out a “enter” and then opened the door.

_*Chief Bogo*_

Bogo was annoyed, very annoyed. His day had been ruined by learning Hopps not only didn’t quit, but made two superb and flawless felony arrests. Followed shortly by learning she had a friend in the ZBI, a fox of all mammals, who exposed him of everything he did to make sure Hopps failed and quit. Then the fox made him break one of his chairs, and give Hopps a chance to prove herself.

Bogo did so hoping she wouldn’t get anything or have something happen that proves she and small mammals like her couldn’t handle this job. Instead she made two more arrests, one of them in Little Rodentia and BY THE BOOK. He couldn’t believe it, she was actually doing a GOOD JOB, and he hated it. He was hoping he could get her to report to him and have loads of ammunition to hit her with. But now he was grasping at straws trying to find things to reprimand her for…he wanted to break another chair.

Hearing two knocks on the bottom of his door meant the particular rabbit sized thorn in his side was right outside. Hopefully he can turn what little he has now into more and keep the rabbit on her toes. “Enter.”

The rabbit Officer that walked through his door was not the same one he walked in on this morning. Gone was the skimpy police uniform he gave her and in its place was full police regalia with all the proper gear and then some. Gone was that nervousness and apprehension in its stead confidence and assurance….she looked like a cop.

Judy took in Chief Bogo’s surprised look and smiled internally. “ _Don’t look like a token bunny anymore do I?”_

Until today Judy hadn’t realized just how ridiculous her old uniform looked, it looked like a costume bought at a party store. Bogo let out a snort and said “I see Agent Wilde gave you plenty of proper gear Hopps. I will of course be requesting your issued items back as you will no longer be needing them.”

Judy nodded once and replied “Of course, they are in a box that will be delivered later, all of it. You’ll also need to send a bill to Agent Wilde.”

Bogo gave her a confused look. “Why?”

“The vest was destroyed during ZBI testing of vest quality. It failed. Knife went straight through it, every caliber past a 22 could pierce it, and if the claws were bigger than a foxes…well it turned into ribbons. Um, so since this was the vest you provided me you might want to expect a angry call from FETRU’s Armorer.”

After everything that has happened today, hearing this somehow wasn’t all that surprising. Letting out a sigh as he pinched his snout Bogo said. “Of course. I will also have to have a word with the company that makes this vest, they assured me it would at the least stop knives and claws. My apologies Hopps. I’ll also have to cancel the entire order of vests I ordered from them as well…..*sigh* I’ll send the bill to Agent Wilde promptly, please take a seat.”

Judy was surprised to hear that Bogo was surprised to hear that the vest she had was such poor quality, so her opinion of him approved slightly. But only slightly. Hopping up in the only remaining chair Judy took a seat and waited for Bogo to speak.

“So Hopps it is mandatory for any officer that has to go into Little Rodentia to report in to me immediately to talk about what happened. So how did this start?”

Judy was a little relieved to know that this was a mandatory action so she gave her report. “Well sir it started with me on foot patrol, I heard a yell for help so I rounded the corner I was on and a pig florist pointed at the suspect and said his shop was robbed. I took off after the suspect. Once he saw I was in pursuit of he ran.”

Bogo nodded once. “So why did you not hit him with a tranq dart? Or catch him before he entered Little Rodentia?”

“I did not wish to risk firing my tranq gun because he quickly entered a crowd of mammals, there was no clean shot. I did not catch him because he had a head start and I am slowed down a little until I get used to the weight of this uniform.”

Bogo nodded once. “I see. Well you did everything (Sadly) to the proper procedure within Little Rodentia. So….good job.”

Judy couldn’t help but let out a grin at that. _“He was forced to tell me, ‘good job’!”_

Once Bogo saw her grin he took this as his opportunity. Taking on a harsh tone he grabbed the bag and put it on the desk. “My only issue is that you wasted all of these resources just so you could catch a weasel that stole 23 Moldy onions! Three officers pulled off of patrol and alarms sounded across Little Rodentia!”

Judy was confused and quickly defended herself. “Sir, that weasel regardless of what he stole robbed the florist! What was I supposed to do? Let the weasel get away with his crime? Pretend I didn’t hear the shop owner yelling? I didn’t know what was in the bag, for all I knew it could have been the cash out of the register. And I hate to correct you but that’s not moldy onions sir, those are a class C botanical called Midnicampum holicithias. Those bulbs sell for around 42 dollars, and since he stole two dozen that makes it..”

Bogo cut her off. He couldn’t believe it but hearing the price tag on these moldy onions deflated the only thing he could get on her for. “Larceny. There were only 23 bulbs of…whatever you just said this is.”

Bogo couldn’t believe he was about to do this, he was about to give her advice. “It’s pretty common Hopps, crooks will take just under the amount that takes larceny to grand larceny so they don’t get hit with a felony. Which is what Weaselton did, if he took 24 it would have been grand larceny. Weaselton knows this trick, and yes I know it’s him. He’s…well a regular around here…and no matter how many charges he gets hit with he manages to, and no pun intended, weasel he’s way out of them. So don’t be surprised if you never get called into court for him.”

Judy nodded a couple of times before deciding to ask a question. “So Chief, have I proved myself yet? Or do you need more evidence?”

This ticked Bogo off. “Hopps, you think I’m going to change my mind just because you made two arrests!?”

Judy quickly corrected him. “Chief I made FIVE arrests today. Two felony arrests before I was on duty, one purse snatcher, one assault on an officer mixed with sexual assault, and Weaselton with his charges. Not to mention Chief that was WITHOUT getting any calls!”

Bogo before this continued needed some elaboration. “Wait, sexual assault and assault on an officer?”

“A male bunny thought it’d be a smart idea to slap my ass as I walked by.”

Bogo couldn’t help but let out an amused snort at that as much as he tried to resist it. The mental image was just too funny. Regaining his composure Bogo said, “Regardless! One day on the job with five arrests, most of them mammals your size, isn’t nearly enough to convince me that you can handle this job!”

Judy was annoyed. “Sir I know for a fact I can handle it! Give me a real case and I’ll show you I can do that too! Put me on one of the missing mammal cases!”

Just before either could speak up suddenly Clawhauser’s voice came over the speaker. “Sir Mrs. Otterton is here to speak to you again.”

Bogo overall irritated and ready to throttle this bunny slammed the talk button and yelled out “not now!”

“Um okay sir it’s just that she…”

Bogo slammed on the button again. “NOT! NOW!”

Hearing Bogo deny seeing Mrs. Otterton and knowing there was an otter missing Judy jumped at the chance. “See! Chief do you just not like any small mammals at all!? Her husband is missing and you’ve only assigned 13 out of 14 missing mammal cases! Let me guess this is the one you haven’t had anyone touch right!? Do you hate us small mammals that much that you won’t even assign someone to find one!? I bet I could find him in 48 hours if you just put me on the case!”

That last part was pure cockiness and bravado, and it was just about to come back and bite her. Bogo was absolutely furious, hearing her yell out those things at him. But, with that last part…Bogo saw an opportunity and took it. “Deal.”

Judy recoiled a bit in shock. “Deal?”

Bogo couldn’t help but smile as he said, “you said you bet you could find Otterton in 48 hours, so I’ll take that bet. Prove it. If you can crack this case in 48 hours starting first thing tomorrow I will take back everything I’ve said, apologize for everything I’ve done, and admit you can do and handle this job.”

Judy couldn’t believe it! She was actually getting a chance! Her first real case! Judy couldn’t resist jumping up and pumping her fist but Bogo quickly brought her back down to earth. “BUT. If you can’t find him in 48 hours, you resign. That’s the stakes Hopps, what do you say?.

Judy immediately became a little pensive as she thought about if she wanted to take a bet with these kinds of stakes. As she was thinking Bogo gave her that one final push. “Well if you think you can’t handle it…”

Judy quickly looked at him after that and said. “Okay, deal…But since it's 48 hours starting at my shift tomorrow I expect to be paid overtime….AND you give me a bonus as well with my paycheck if, no when I find Mr. Otterton.”

Bogo nodded and replied “fine, that is agreeable. I will also put a rush order on your cruiser, it should be ready by the time you start…and once you do start, you can’t stop. 48 hours to solve the case.”

Judy nodded and said. “Good, and you will give me the case file to look at today!”

Bogo let out a snort and said “fine.”

Bogo then gave her an evil smile, like there was an inside joke she didn’t know about. It was slightly disturbing. Bogo stood and was about to stick out his paw when suddenly Mrs. Otterton burst into the office. “Please Chief Bogo just a minute of your time! My husband has been missing for ten days!”

Bogo was surprised by the intrusion and Judy was as well. Before either could react to that a certain portly cheetah came into view looking like he was about to have a heart attack. Between shuddering breaths he said, “I’m sorry sir…she’s just so slippery…oh I gotta go sit down.”

Judy had to suppress a laugh and Bogo just waved a paw and said “it’s fine Clawhauser. Next time just tell me she’s coming up.”

Bogo then looked at Mrs. Otterton and said “well you’re in luck ma’am. I have just assigned Officer Hopps your husband's case.”

Bogo then gestured to Judy and Mrs. Otterton’s eyes lit up with hope. She rushed towards Judy who had just hopped out of her chair and embraced her. “Bless you bunny bless you!”

Judy wanted to coo and hugged her back. After a few moments Mrs. Otterton ended the hug and pulled out a photo handing it to Judy. “Here take this. Please find my Emmit, bring him home to me and our boys. Please.”

Judy took the photo and said “you can count on me ma’am, I won’t stop until I find him and bring him home. You have my word.”

Mrs. Otterton embraced Judy again before letting out a few more thank yous before walking back out the door intent on making sure that party cheetah hadn’t keeled over. Bogo let out a sigh before saying “Clawhauser will get you the complete case file, if he hasn’t died from a heart attack after running up the steps. Dismissed Hopps.”

Judy simply nodded before simply exiting Bogo’s office. Once she was out she couldn’t help but do a little happy dance before descending the stairs a big grin on her face the entire time as she did so. Once she was about halfway down the steps she saw Assistant Mayor Dawn Bellwether coming up to them. Waving to her Judy said “Assistant Mayor Bellwether! Hi!”

Bellwether looked up in surprise hearing her name being called out and seeing it was Judy she gave her a smile. “Oh! Officer Hopps! How’s the job going?”

Judy didn’t bother stopping as she went by Bellwether, too excited by the prospect of her first big case. Walking past her Judy said “It’s going great!”

Bellwether could tell Judy was in a hurry so she replied “well that’s just fantastic! I’ll be sure to let Mayor Lionheart know! Have a nice day!”

Judy turned and waved as she replied “you too!”

Finally Judy reached the bottom of the steps and set her destination for Clawhauser’s desk.

* _After looking at the smallest case file Clawhauser had ever seen*_

Judy couldn’t believe it. It was astronomically universally impossible. There was no way. One of the gods must love playing with her because she was staring at an enlarged photo of concrete proof. The last mammal to see Emmit Otterton was none other than Nick Wilde. In what universe was this even possible? She couldn’t comprehend it.

First she met Nick Wilde and he hustled her, then hustled her again, and on top of that belittled her dreams. Then the very same day it turns out he has an older brother that also happens to be her neighbor, and luckily he has been nothing but supportive and a fast friend. Now it turns out her first real case, a missing mammals case, is the same Nick Wilde was the one who had last seen her mammal before they disappeared.

She couldn’t wrap her head around it. Honestly. What were the odds of…all of this! The only chance she had to find her missing mammal lay in the paws of Nick Wilde. Now she had to figure out a way to get him to cooperate, because she doubted he would willingly help her. But, there just might be one mammal that could help…and she was having dinner with him again.

_*9:00PM Jameson*_

James had just finished making dinner for the night. For himself he made shrimp Alfredo and for Judy fettuccine Alfredo and he made sure he made enough that she’d have access to leftovers for the next day or two if need be. James decided he would have shrimp Alfredo because one he needed the protein, and two he wanted to test and see how Judy would react to seeing a fox eat meat.

After what happened this morning with the claws, and the fact Judy carried fox away spray, well used to, he was covering all his bases before bringing up the topic. He didn’t want to of course, but he needed to. Because if Judy was subconsciously scared of foxes it could cause some serious issues and put a damper on their friendship. So he would see how she handled seeing him gear through flesh. If she didn’t have an issue seeing that, it meant the issue lied with the claws…probably because of an incident involving fox claws. If she did have an issue, it meant her problem laid with foxes entirely.

But besides that he was eager to hear how the rest of her first day on real patrol went. The last update he had gotten had been after some idiot bunny had thought it was a smart idea to slap her butt as she walked by. After that though it had been all quiet, he had sent a text asking if she was still fine and she responded to that with the addition that she’d talk about it at dinner. If whatever happened needed to be told in the flesh it had to be interesting, and perhaps troublesome.

He was just finished with plating and setting them down on his dining room table when he heard a knock on his door. James quickly wiped his paws on his apron and took it off setting it on one of the empty chairs as he headed over to his door and opened. There he was greeted by Judy in casual clothes, blue jeans and a pink flannel shirt. The look of course screamed country bunny but from fear of his other leg getting messed up by way of bunny kick James kept the remark to himself and instead said. “Heya Judy, come on in.”

Judy smiled at James before walking in, immediately noticing the peculiar smell. “What’s that smell?”

James chuckled as he walked over to the table, “that would be my dinner Judy. Since I had a salad for lunch I need protein. So I made myself some Shrimp Alfredo. Don’t worry, you just have regular fettuccine Alfredo and I cooked it separate from mine. I hope you don’t mind that I eat some meat? I could always just eat later if it bothers you.”

Judy had never seen a predator actually eat meat. She honestly didn’t know how to feel about it, sure it was a little unsettling to think about a mammal consuming flesh, but James was a predator. Their diet requires protein and protein comes from flesh. There were animals that still hadn’t gained sentience, birds, insects and all fish. So predators eat those for their protein. Sure they could just take supplements for their protein but studies showed those that did had a shortened lifespan, were more susceptible to illness, among other things.

So while Judy was slightly unnerved about the prospect of seeing a predator eat flesh, this was James apartment and he needed it. “No no James it’s fine. You don’t have to wait or turn away or anything. This is your house and I’m in a city full of predators and work a job that’s almost half predator. I’ll have to get used to this.”

James gave her a nod in response and replied “well alright then. Come have a seat I already dished a portion for you and me and took the liberty of pouring you some carrot juice as well. There’s also plenty for seconds, thirds, fourths, and the next few days for lunch so you aren’t starving yourself.”

Once again James was looking out for her. “You didn’t have to do that James, thank you.”

James after taking a seat raised his left eyebrow and said “would for the rest of this week only buy dirt cheap small meals that for your metabolism is basically a light snack?”

Like a kit caught with their paw in the cookie jar. “…yes.”

James smirked at her. “Then yes I did. Go ahead and dig in, after your first plate we can talk about how the rest of your day went.”

*****

Judy couldn’t believe it, the fettuccine Alfredo James had made tasted like HEAVEN. It took almost all of her willpower not to moan it was that good. James was a master chef as far as she was concerned and she was going to find it harder and harder not to come here every day of the week. Her resistance was crumbling with every bite.

Luckily she had something to distract herself from that fact, and that was Jameson Wilde and what he was eating. Shrimp. She had to admit that seeing his fangs tear through flesh made her squirm a little but…she could get used to it…maybe. Maybe she wasn’t having so much of an issue because it was tiny shrimp. She didn’t want to think any further on that topic so she moved on to the next item in her mind.

“ _He’s drinking whiskey again.”_

It was true, James was once again sipping on some Wilde Whiskey. Looking over to the kitchen where the bottle sat Judy saw a 90% full one. “ _Last night he was drinking out of a just over half full bottle. He drank that entire bottle?....that could be an issue.”_

Judy decided she was going to have to watch that and speak up if she saw a recurring pattern. If he was drinking everyday and that much? That’s a problem. But that was a matter that could wait, the one that was about to be brought up was not. _“I bet James isn’t going to be happy that I just staked my career on solving a case in 48 hours. But when he finds out who this case rests on solving….I don’t know how he’ll react. I’m not even sure he will be able to help directly, last night he said he hadn’t seen his brother in eleven years….at the least he will be able to give me some advice.”_

****

Once Judy had finished her first plate and gone for seconds it was time to broach the topic. Waiting for Judy to be seated, James took a sip of whiskey and said “so Judy how’d the rest of your day go, you kept details sparse for the back half. I can also tell something’s bothering you a bit. So what’s up?”

Judy shouldn’t have been surprised that he picked up on that. “Well I actually got into a pursuit that led into Little Rodentia. What are the odds right? It was a weasel that robbed a florist shop, he stole some flowers which was odd. I went in and got him cleanly.”

James gave her a grin and said “hey nice! Glad I decided to tell you about the protocol for LR. Yeah what are the odds of that huh. But why steal flowers? They don’t have a good resale…odd. But what else? I know it’s procedure for officers that go into LR to immediately report in. Bogo didn’t try to railroad you did he?”

Judy shook her head and replied, “no, well kinda actually. I could tell he really wanted to chew me out but there was nothing he could do it for. It ticked him off. But in the end he was forced to tell me ‘good job!’ Then after that I got my very first case!”

That was very good news indeed. “Hey hey! Way to go Judy! What’s the case?”

Judy wasn’t looking forward to this next part. “It’s one of the missing mammal cases, I’m looking for an otter.”

“Nice! But how did you get on the case? You can’t tell me Bogo had a change of heart that quick.”

Judy let out a little nervous laugh and said “yeeeaaahhh about that…I mayyy have inadvertently made a bet that I could solve this particular missing mammal case in 48 hours when the wife of the mammal wanted to see Bogo and he wouldn’t see her…that’s of course after I accused him of being speciesist towards all small mammals and guessing that this was the only missing mammal case unassigned….”

James blinked twice. “You're joking.”

Judy let out another nervous laugh. “I kinda wish I was.”

James rubbed his temples. “What are the stakes?”

“If I win Bogo will take back everything he’s said, apologize for everything he’s done, and admit I can do and handle this job.”

James nodded while still rubbing his temples. “Okay, what does Bogo get if you lose?”

Judy really wasn’t looking forward to this. “If I don’t solve the case in 48 hours…..I resign.”

James let out a groan as he pinched the bridge of his snout and shut his eyes. “Ahhhhhh Judy why!? Why would you do that!? How long has the otter been missing?”

“Ten days.”

James groan doubled. “Juuuddyyy. You agreed that you could find a mammal that’s been missing for ten days in two days in one of the biggest and most densely populated cities in the country! Why!? You’ve only been here two days! The odds are so not in your favor here especially without a partner! This is paramount to career suicide! You realize that right!?”

Judy didn’t know what to say to that, her confidence on the matter really taking a hit. What James said made absolute sense, she let her confidence turn into cockiness, and it just might cost her her job. James quickly downed the rest of the whiskey in his glass and stood to get more, pouring himself a double he turned to her and said, “please tell me you at least have a loaded case file because that is your ONLY chance at solving this in 48 hours.”

Judy’s confidence dropped a little lower. “….there’s only one page with a photo of his last time seen.”

James threw his paws in the air. “Judy that’s it! You're screwed! Unless he’s holding up a sign saying where he’s going or there’s a ton of witnesses you’re utterly screwed! The odds of you solving this are now infinitesimal! Practically impossible! Why in Serendipity’s name would you take a bet like this!?”

James was really laying into her, and she could see the disappointment on his face and in his tone. It made her feel pretty bad. James had gone above and beyond to give her an actual chance at being a real cop, and just as quickly as he gave it to her she more than likely threw it away being cocky. Worst still, Judy hadn’t even gotten to the real bad part.

Ears dropping Judy said, “there is only one witness…”

James shook his head and downed the rest of his glass, poured some more, downed that, poured some more, and pinched the bridge of his snout. He couldn’t believe this was happening. “Only one witness….”

“…that’s not even the worst part.”

James sighed. “You can’t see their face…”

Judy shook her head. “No, no….the last mammal to see Emmit Otterton before he went missing….is Nick. Your brother is the last mammal that we know saw Otterton.”

James recoiled stumbling back a few steps. Using his free paw he grasped his counter, it felt like he’d been slapped. Of all the things….Judy just basically committed career suicide unless she could solve this case…it it all rested in the paws of his little brother Nicholas Wilde. Looking up at the sky he thought “ _so Serendipity this is the game you chose to play with me!? How is this gonna end huh!? I thought I wouldn’t be toyed with!”_

James went back to the table and sat down, putting his head in his paws. Judy really felt bad, she was laying a lot on James and that rope that was her lifeline for her career was now a string. There was only one thing keeping her afloat at the moment, she didn’t know when to quit. If this metaphorical car of hers was breaking down…..well then she was going to ride it until the wheels fell off.

Taking a deep breath Judy said, “look James I know this is a lot….and I messed up big time making this stupid bet. I got cocky and I opened my big mouth and now I got 48 hours to solve a case that hasn’t had a simple lead from in ten days. I know the odds are so very stacked not in my favor, but I don’t know when to quit so I am going to give this my all. At the end of those 48 hours I’ll either have solved this case, or be looking for a new job. But, to even start I need your brother's help….I know you haven’t seen or spoken to him in 11 years, so I’m not expecting you or asking you to talk to him. I just need you to help me figure out a way for me to get him to help.”

James kept his head in his paws for a few minutes, Judy patiently waiting for him to speak. She after all had just revealed a lot. Finally she heard James speak, “no.”

James took his head out of his paws and said, “no. It has to be me. It can only be me Judy. I will talk to Nick, I will get him to cooperate and help you. I have to. For my sake.”

James couldn’t believe this was happening. He was about to go reunite with his brother in the flesh, and much earlier than planned. The original plan had been to wait until he was fully reunited with their mom, then he would call Nick just as he called his mom. There he would give him the same story, this way Nick would actually listen, hear what he had to say.

But now because of Judy putting her career on a very thin tightrope he was forced to do it now. He highly doubted Nick was actually going to listen to him and hear his side of things. Hopefully though once seeing the condition James was in maybe Nick would listen. Nick had never seen his scared muzzle, his damaged left eye, never seen him need to walk with a cane. He was going to see this all for the first time today and hopefully his concern would blot out his anger.

James wasn’t even wearing the mechanical brace, he wanted Nick to see him as he is without any disguises. Plus he was having diagnostics run on the brace all day today but that was a minor fact. The biggest thing is that if Nick snatched the cane away, James would fall and that hopefully would get Nick more in a mood to listen to him….hopefully.

James looked himself over in the mirror, today he was wearing maroon slacks, jacket, and tie with a black under shirt and no vest. He left the jacket unbuttoned as it was a nice day out and that way he could show his badge easier. He decided he would use his lunch hour to talk to Nick, and hopefully it would be a talk. But, if it came down to it and Nick refused to hear anything he had to say he had a plan to force Nick to help. He didn’t want to do it that way, but his brother could be really stubborn when he wanted to be.

James knew where Nick would be at this time of day, right next to the lemmings bank finishing up his popsicle hustle. James had known Nick had been hustling, even when he left he made sure to keep tabs on his little brother. This little hustle he had been doing with the popsicles had been one Nick has been doing for the last year or so, he didn’t blame him. It was very easy, and pretty profitable. It also didn’t step on any mammals toes as an added bonus. So destination set in mind Jameson grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

***

There were very few things on this earth that Finnick Deserttail was afraid of, and even fewer mammals. In fact, there were only two mammals on this earth he was scared of. In second place was Gerald Corleone, a.k.a Mr. Big. He was the reason Finnick wouldn’t be caught dead in Tundratown. In first place was his partner and friend’s older brother Jameson K. Wilde.

When they were younger Finnick would try and rope Nick into his hustles and schemes, but he never could. That’s because his older brother Jameson would block him, and in one case beat him when he said a particular snide comment. To this day it was the only fight he’d ever lost. Jameson K. Wilde was even back in the day in his eyes an intimidating force of nature even despite being a couple of years younger than him. That reputation only grew more the older Jameson got.

Even after Jameson had run away, he made sure to pay him a visit and say “stay the hell away from my little brother.” Then after that Finnick heard whispers on the streets as years went by, and those whispers were saying a fox that looked like Jameson was dropping a lot of bodies. So safe to say after all of these years Finnick was still terrified of him….and he just saw him get out a federal cruiser, armed, with a wicked scar on his muzzle, and he looked right at him.

So Finnick did the one thing he could think to do in that moment, and if anyone were to ask about it he would say he wasn’t ashamed to do it. He turned and took off in a full sprint away from Nick and his precious van.

***

There are very few things on this earth that would cause Finnick to turn tail and run from. Especially away from his van. The one thing that came to Nicholas Wilde’s mind that would cause this reaction was Big’s enforcers. So, seeing the muscle of the group take off running Nick’s immediate was to start to take off running to, not bothering to look and confirm that’s who it was.

He got maybe three steps into his run when he heard a voice he thought he’d never hear again, and didn’t want to. “I get Finnick running, but not you.”

Nick stopped dead in his tracks. Not bothering with turning around Nick looked to the sky and said, “Jameson.”

Jameson shook his head, “ _so this is how it’s gonna be?”_

“Not brother, just Jameson? Fine, Nicholas. So, do I get the courtesy of having my little brother look me in the eyes? Or do I get to just talk to the back of your head?”

It took all of Nick's power not to just punch him in the face like he did the last time they saw each other eleven years ago. The nerve his older brother had, though he did not deserve the title of brother. ELEVEN. YEARS. And James was talking like they just spoke last week. Jameson walked out on him and their mother in the dead of night, no note, nothing. After that moment he forfeited being his brother.

Nick turned around to tell him as much but those words died on his lips when he actually saw his brother for the first time in all those years. Sure he was dressed very nice….but, the nasty scar running the entire length of his muzzle ending in a curve on his cheek. Anger was washed away with concern…he didn’t look too good.

But then he saw James' badge and once again anger won over. Though he changed what he was going to say. Crossing his arms he snarked “Well, looks like you aren’t the looker you used to be.”

James shook his head and chuckled at that. Taking off his sunglasses he said “little brother you have no idea.”

Once again there was that feeling of concern. Instead of two identical emeralds staring back at him there was only one, the left eye of his older brother had no color to it. “ _The years really haven’t been kind to him…”_

It was then his voice of anger chimed in. “ _NO! LOOK AT THE BADGE! HE IS A FEDERAL AGENT! HE GOT THOSE WITH HIS JOB! His cushy cushy job with its cushy pay and its cushy luxury apartment! Meanwhile I’ve struggled with scraps! He’s living a cushy life after just abandoning me and mom! His nerve!”_

Finally he said what he originally planned. “No, no you don’t get to call me that Jameson. I’ve said as much before. You LEFT. You abandoned me! Now here you are like that never happened wearing a nice suit flaunting your badge and your cushy job. How easy you’ve had it, how you made it without me and mom tying you down. You lost all privileges to call me your brother and to call yourself my brother the day you walked out on us. The nerve of you! And really!? A cane!? How much of a Dbag are you!?”

In that moment Nick reached forward and yanked the cane away from Jameson in anger intent on chucking it away before walking away. Instead of James remaining standing where he was like Nick thought he would, the second he took the cane away Jameson crumpled to the ground his left leg immediately collapsing. Jameson hit the pavement with a grunt and immediately grabbed his left leg as he sat up.

Nick was shocked by seeing James go down, and he went down so quickly. He was either a really good actor, or “Agh Gods dammit Nick! I’m crippled you dick!”

This was immediately concerning for Nick but he was going to call James bluff but James looked up at him irritated and said “what don’t believe me?”

James quickly grabbed his left pant leg and yanked it up past his knee showing his little brother the super nasty scar he had there. “Car accident seven years ago. Muscles, ligaments, tendons, all of it utterly destroyed. So am I still a dbag for using a cane?”

Nick, regardless of everything James had done still felt like a dick. He took the cane away from a crippled mammal, that was pretty low. Giving the cane back to James he quickly helped him up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

James shook his head and replied “no, you didn’t, and that’s my fault. I know I’ve done a lot of things wrong, and I have a lot of regrets. Abandoning you and mom was the worst thing I ever did….Nick it’s been eleven years since I last saw you, sixteen years since I left…Nick you may see this suit, this badge…but as you can tell my life hasn’t exactly been a cakewalk and….”

This pissed Nick off. “You did not just say that to me. You didn’t. Your life hasn’t been a cakewalk? Seriously!? My gods, to think that even for a moment I felt any sympathy for you and your injuries! You stand before me as a federal agent in a very expensive looking suit with the gall to say your life hasn’t been a cakewalk!? LOOK AT YOU! You made it! You abandoned me and mom and you made it! Here I am having to hustle just so I can eat and keep clothes on my back having spent years living in the dirt! I still live in the dirt!”

James tried to interject but Nick was on a roll. “NO! You don’t not get to speak! I have struggled day after day for SIXTEEN YEARS since you left us! I left home the same as you to save mother from starving herself! Resorting to whatever means I could just to survive and I’m still doing it to this day! I have been handed NOTHING! No chances at a fair and decent life, little happiness, spit on as I pass! Meanwhile you thrive! A federal agent living a good life! Probably have been for YEARS! And you expect me to pity your so-called plights!? Injuries gained on the job!? You dare tell me that your life hasn’t been a cakewalk!? LOOK AT ME! DOES IT LOOK LIKE I LIVE EVEN A FRACTION OF THE LAVISHNESS YOU OBVIOUSLY DO!? I WILL NOT HEAR ONE MORE WORD OF THIS! Goodbye Jameson Wilde! Your only saving grace from me striking you as I did the last time me spoke is that I don’t hit crippled mammals! Maybe you can try and contact me in another eleven years!”

* _Jameson upon seeing his little brother for the first time*_

James had to admit, his little brother Nicholas Wilde did not look so good. “ _He’s clearly underweight….his tail hangs low…worse still I see no life in his eyes….what have I done? Did I really forsake my brother to such misery? This is all my fault…he stands before me and even now I can tell….he is broken and hiding behind so many masks…and worse still I do not know if he was granted even a moment of reprieve like I was….what have I done….I have been no true brother to him.”_

_*Jameson in the present*_

There are very few scenarios and moments in his life that Jameson could find that he was as furious as he was now. _“I know he speaks out of anger but to go so far! To not even consider speaking to me! To hear what I’ve been through and for me to hear his! To not even attempt to reconcile! To have the nerve to dismiss me so quickly and my own trials! But worse still to assume things and think I have had it easy in all this time! Fine little brother if I can’t talk to you I WILL command you! I will no longer ask, I will TELL! If you think me such a bastard….I might as well act as one.”_

Letting out a growl of frustration Jameson quickly grabbed Nick’s shoulder and jerked him to face him once more.

Nick let out a growl of his own and yanked Jameson’s paw off of him and going to speak Jameson spoke first and said, “I am not finished with you Nicholas! If you are not going to even try and listen to my story and turn away from me as I try and reconcile with you then what I was going to ask of you is now what I will command of you! What I will make you do! I am no longer asking, little brother I am telling!”

Nick now furious yelled out “oh and just what do you think you can command me to do huh!? You are not my brother anymore, not in my life anymore! I’d like to see you try and make me do something! I will not listen to your sob story nor will I do anything you tell me to do! So go screw yourself!”

Jameson growled more and his eyes narrowed as he yelled “Oh how will I make you complacent little brother!? Easy! I will expose you! Everything you’ve done I will tell our mother! I know you haven’t visited her because I have! I reunited and reconciled and she let me in with open arms! She heard my story and I will tell her yours! How you gave up trying to make yourself into something and now hustle mammals out of their hard earned cash! How you scam them! Not only that I will tell her about your time in Mr. Big’s employ! All of the heists! The break-ins! All of it!”

Nick was cowed slightly by this. _“What!? How does he know I worked for Big!? I remained anonymous! I covered every track! No he has no proof to any of this! He’s bluffing!”_

It was true. Nick had once been the infamous thief Red Rouge working under Mr. Big. He stole jewels, artwork, evidence, anything he was commanded to steal he stole. He did it well too, never once getting even close to being caught. Until now it would seem.

James saw the look in Nick’s eyes, it was very brief, but it was there, fear. That’s when Jameson knew he had him. Nick though with anger in his tone still tried to play it coy with an air of confidence about him. “Oh and what proof of my hustles do you have hm!? What evidence would you show our mother!? And what is this nonsense regarding Big!? Please like I would ever work for him or have worked for him! You are reaching and you will grasp nothing! All you’d do is feed our mother lies!”

Jameson had him hook, line, and sinker. “No proof eh? I have photographs of your current hustle and all it’s steps! That and a few prior ones! And for Big! Please! You won’t set foot in tundra town and Big’s famous thief was a red fox that was known only as the Red Rouge! That is until a falling out occurring leaving Red Rouge banished and dishonored! A kill order placed should he ever return to tundratown! Red Rouge! Really you didn’t think I would catch that!? That is the nickname I gave you whenever we played pretend as kits!”

Nick was shocked, his confidence of getting away scot free diminishing a bit. Jameson saw that shock and said “What? You don’t think I’ve kept tabs on you!? What you have been doing!? You’re my little brother Nick I always made sure you were still alive! And before you even think of telling me you weren’t Red Rouge I gathered time stamps and paper trails all leading to you! Your start of hustling even coincides perfectly with the end of Red Rouges career! Besides even if you didn’t let that phase you I can arrest you for tax evasion! You’ve paid zero taxes but have records of owning and distributing commerce! You don’t think I will!? You said it yourself if I’m not your brother so if that’s the case then I have no problem doing my job! So what’s it gonna be Nicholas!?”

Nick couldn’t believe this. This wasn’t happening. He had just told his older Jameson he had nothing….and it had turned out he was utterly wrong. Of course Jameson could be bluffing about the evidence but, if there was one thing Nick could say about Jameson….he never lied. So he had him, dead to rights…and he was severely thinking about punching Jameson in the face crippled or not. But even with all of this rage and anger and hate towards his brother….he wouldn’t, he couldn’t. So there was nothing he could now but see what exactly Jameson wanted him to do.

Letting out a growl of anger and frustration Nick conceded. The quicker he could be told what he needed to do the quicker he could get away from Jameson. “You are some piece of work Jameson! But fine! What the hell do you want me to do!?”

James nodded forcing himself to calm down, he at least had Nick's cooperation. He knew right now Nick was furious with him and probably hated him, but hopefully with his plan B and Hail Mary he could get Nick to at least talk to him.

But for now, “good! Glad you decided to agree to so generously help and donate your time. What do you have to do? It’s quite simple really. That bunny cop you hustled and belittled yesterday, remember her? Well it just so happens, me and her are friends. She told me all about it and on top of that she’s in a bit of a bind. You see she’s working a missing mammals case, and it just so happens YOU were the last mammal to see them. So you are going to walk around the corner and meet her, you're going to not only tell her where you saw them go but show her. In fact, since you just had to stomp on her dreams, you're going to help her. For the next 48 hours you will be right at her side and play cop. You do what she says when she says it, you are to be her shadow and help her and anyway you can. You will be respectful to her at all times and are not to leave her side until those 48 hours are up. You will not try to stall or delay her in any way whatsoever because if you do I will arrest you and reveal your secrets to mom. Well what are you still standing there for? Chop chop on your way. She’s just around the corner and you can't miss her.”

Nick didn’t even bother saying anything too furious to speak. He was essentially just put on babysitting duty for the next 48 hours. So giving his brother one last hard look he turned and walked around the corner. Jameson watched him go letting out a deep sigh once Nick was out of sight, this whole scenario had not gone the way he wanted it to at all. But at least he got Nick's cooperation to help Judy.

Running his free paw through the white fur on his head he let another sigh as he looked at Finnick’s stupid van. Even when they were younger Finnick had this ridiculous van and it was probably the only thing Finnick cared about. When he had seen Finnick after he had stepped out of his cruiser he wanted to pummel him into the dirt, Finnick had roped Nick into this life he now lived. This van he held so precious….James was feeling some petty revenge. So looking around to make sure no one was looking he took a knee and pulled out his switchblade. Opening it Jameson slashed Finnick’s driver side rear tire. Then he stood, went to the back of the van, kneeled down again, and slashed the spare tire too. James stood now satisfied and walked back to his cruiser whistling a tune.

***

Finnick returned to his van several hours later just to find one of his tires had been slashed. He didn’t need to wonder who did it. “Really Jameson? That’s just low.”

Letting out a huff he went to go unhook his spare just to find it had been slashed too. Finnick couldn’t help but smirk at that as he nodded and said, “Well played.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done! 
> 
> As I said big chapter with lots and lots done! Judy got on the missing mammals case, told James, and James reunited with Nick! I sincerely hope you all liked it! 
> 
> So Judy got on the missing mammal case by a bet of her own making which technically was NOT insubordination. So that was corrected! Judy also got Nick to help WITHOUT blackmailing him! Sure Jameson technically did…but telling mom his business isn’t nearly as bad and James can actually arrest Nick for tax evasion! So all of those actions that made Judy a bad cop? POOF! They’re gone! 
> 
> I hope you all liked how the interaction between Nick and James! Were they both being assholes to each other? Yes! Did Jameson handle the situation poorly? Yes! Was that the point and intentional? Yes! Both were jackasses that a certain bunny will have to play peacemaker with to get the two idiots to reconcile! 
> 
> I hope you all liked Finnick’s little appearance as well! 
> 
> So that’s that! Let me know what y’all thought and I’ll see you next time! This is TheConcernedF0X signing off!


	9. Why is everyone naked!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! It's ATB!
> 
> So this chapter is a goody! It contains the Mystic Springs Oasis Scene, with new dialogue and scene alterations. It also contains 90% of the Tundratown scenes ending when Mr. Big is going to reveal what happened to Otterton!
> 
> Okay so if you like the story please drop some kudos if your on A03 or if on a fav and/or follow! And please please please review/comment! DO IT!
> 
> Alright so story time!

Nick was absolutely furious. His older brother suddenly appears out of the blue on his high horse and goes straight to scolding him and blackmailing him into helping that naïve bunny that he ran into yesterday.

" _Because OF COURSE he somehow miraculously knows that rabbit!"_

Now just simply helping her was bad enough, but he was supposed to be her babysitter for the next 48 hours!? What the heck was that about!? For the next 48 hours he had to do everything she says and follow her every whim and command and there was nothing he could about it!...or was there?

"Maybe I could drag my hind paws, annoy her, waste time, anything to make her release me from her services! Be as unhelpful as possible but not so much where she tells Jameson!...yes that's it! Just get under her fur Nick and then you're scot free!"

Nick felt a little more confident that he could get out of this babysitting punishment now he just had to look for a bunny in a police costume and a three wheeled joke mobile…then he heard a feminine voice say "hey slick!"

Nick's ears perked up and he looked to his right, then his jaw dropped. There was the same bunny from yesterday, but different. Gone was the costume and in its place an actual uniform, and the joke mobile was now a ZPD cruiser. The optimism of the bunny was still there, of course, but there now was also now an air of confidence about the bunny standing just across the street from him.

" _…..or not…She's also less cute and more pretty now."_

_"Woah bad brain!"_

Judy cocked her hip and tilted her head with a smirk on her face as she saw the same jerk of a fox so confident yesterday now rendered completely shocked and speechless. "What bunny got your tongue?"

With that quip Nick remembered what was happening and why he was here so the shock melted away and his mask of indifference slipped back into place. Straightening his tie a bit he walked across the street to her with a smirk on his face. "Well look at you. Seems my brother aka your sugar daddy hooked you up good Officer Carrots."

Judy narrowed her eyebrows at that. "He is NOT my sugar daddy, you should know that."

"Oh how would I know this is the first time I've spoken to him in 11 years and you two must have fooled me. But can we just get this over with rabbit? I got better things to do then babysit you for the next 48 hours."

Judy tilted her head at that. "The next 48 hours?"

Nick groaned and replied "rabbit don't play dumb with me. Because I hurt your fweenings you went and tattled to my brother to make me your personal slave for the next two days."

Judy had to laugh at that. "Oh really? I only wanted your help for one thing but if your brother said you're to accompany me for the next 48 hours who am I to change that! So come on!"

With that Judy hopped into the drivers seat of the cruiser extremely happy with getting back at Nick for what he did to her the day before. Meanwhile Nick's ears splayed to the side as a look of annoyance took over his face, letting out a huff Nick went around to the passenger side of the cruiser, his tail dragging the whole way.

Climbing into the cruiser and shutting the door he looked over at his current bane of existence, the stupidly perky optimistic bunny. "So slave master what's the first task you have for me?"

Judy rolled her eyes at that as she pulled out the photo of Otterton. "Well Slick, I am working a missing mammals case. Do you know this mammal?"

Nick looked at the photo and said "of course, I know everybody. And no I don't know where he is since you said he's missing."

"Okay, this is the last sighting of him before he went missing. You're in the photo, so what do you know?"

Nick wanted to smile so bad. "I do know where he went. A place called the Mystic Springs Oasis, it's right across the street from where this photo was taken."

Judy tried to maintain her composure, for about two seconds before a giant grin appeared on her face. She did resist the fist pump though, " _yes! A lead!"_

Judy was about to pull out her phone to look up the place when Nick quickly said "why waste your time with that, there's a built in GPS."

Judy was slightly suspicious about how quickly he said use the GPS but shrugged it off and instead just looked it up on there and punched it in. Address set Judy put the cruiser and drive and began to make the trip. Meanwhile Nick pulled out his phone and texted Finnick.

"Thanks for warning me that my brother had just shown up behind me. I won't be hustling for the next two days, my brother is blackmailing me into helping that bunny cop from yesterday. Because they apparently are friends!"

Finnick replied. "Bro I'm sorry but you no I don't mess wit your bro. Dude scares me. Damn tho bout the hustles. He no bunny cop? What are the odds? Just wat does your bro got on you that would make you do anythin? Wat bunny cop got you doin?"

"He threatened to tell our mother about my hustles. But worse still, he knows I was Red Rouge. I don't even know how he knows but he does. She's got me helping her on a missing mammal case. Emmit Otterton, I got no choice."

The next response came quickly "SHIT! That ain't good man! Both things ain't good! But Otterton? U no what that means right?

"Yeah, I do. I'm not going to tell her she should look into him yet because she'd start asking questions. I just gotta hope this doesn't lead to Tundratown."

Finnick replied again. "Ight bro, stay safe, and keep u bro away from me."

Nick shook his head at that and Judy said, "texting your 'son'?"

Nick shot her a look as he pocketed his phone. "That is none of your business rabbit."

Judy just shrugged as she drove. "Fine be that way. You can be mad all you want but this is on you. If you hadn't hustled me and spat on my dreams you would have just told me all you knew about Otterton and went about your day."

Nick scoffed at that. "Oh please climb off your high horse. You've been in the city wha two days and think you got everything figured out. I still guarantee you're gonna give up and go back to carrot farming with your fuzzy wuzzy tail tucked between your legs and your ears plastered to your back, mark my words."

Judy wanted to refute his statement but they were pulling up to the place. "Fine continue being a negative Nancy. We're here."

Judy pulled the cruiser over and exited it walking towards the small mammal entrance. Nick let out a sigh as he climbed out to follow her all the while trying to figure out ways to make her drop him, or at the very least get under her fur. So far he was coming up with nothing. " _Agh! I know this is a nudist club, but how am I going to use this to make her kick me to the curb?...I mean I could fluster and embarrass her? Lots of crude jokes, point out something's? But she's a bunny, they don't shy away from this kind of stuff….Karma I got nothing, I guess I can give that a try and just keep being hostile. Maybe if I'm enough of a jackass she'll just drop me."_

Plan set in his mind Nick confidently strolled over to Judy and said with a very high level of sarcasm "alright Officer Toot-Toot, let's get in there and get you some leads!"

Judy simply shook her head as she opened the door and replied "can you be anymore sarcastic?"

Nick quickly quipped "oh most definitely."

Judy just shook her head as they entered the establishment. Waking in she looked around, it was dark, only lit up by candles and some natural light. As far as she could tell it looked sort of like a hookah lounge, or at least TVs depiction of one. There was only one mammal present, an unkempt looking Yak at what looked like the front desk meditating, he also happened to be shirtless. Judy and Nick walked up to the desk, Judy glancing at Nick occasionally wondering why he looked so satisfied.

Judy shook it off and went to get the Yaks attention in a clear and loud tone she said. "ZPD, I have a few questions for you."

This quickly got the Yaks attention and he parted his hair so he could see who spoke. Leaning on the desk he looked down and saw a bunny police officer and a fox. "Oh hey there! What can I help you with, Officer?"

Judy gave a smile to the Yak as she pulled out the photo of Otterton and handed it to him. "Hi, I was just wondering if you know this mammal."

Parting his fur some more Yak took a closer look at the photo, after a sneeze that sent bugs flying into the air he said "yeah good old Emmit! Haven't seen him in a couple of weeks though…hey you know you should talk to his yoga instructor Nangi, she might know more. I can take you back there if you want."

Judy got excited and couldn't help the small little bounce as she said while once again glancing at Nick "that would be fantastic! You have no idea how much this…OH MY GODS YOU'RE NAKED!"

She had looked back at Yax who had gone to the nearby door and HE WAS NAKED! Why was he naked!? Judy quickly averted her eyes and covered the side with her paw to block her peripheral taking Yak out of sight, but what she could see was a self satisfied Nick with a smirk on his face and amusement in his emerald eyes.

Yax turned back to face the duo and said "oh for sure! We're a naturalist club! Luckily for you since you're on police business you don't have to get undressed."

Nick for his part was very satisfied at the moment seeing Judy's reaction to the fact that the Mystic Springs Oasis was a naturalist club. But he was also surprised. " _Well well, looks like Carrots here is quite flustered…it's so…cute. A bunny that's a prude, ain't that funny."_

Then a light bulb went off in his head on how he could realllyyy get to her. There was a reason Yax hadn't questioned his presence here after all. So without further ado Nick began to get naked. Judy hadn't noticed it yet instead more concerned about making eye contact with Yax and saying "thank you for this."

Yax didn't respond to her and instead said "come on Nick we got locker rooms man."

Judy was confused by that and turned to her left just to find that…"OH MY GODS NICK YOU'RE NAKED! WHY ARE YOU NAKED!?"

Nick wanted to laugh so bad but instead just smiled as he said. "Well I'm just adhering to the clubs policy, no clothes aloud."

Just quickly looked away from both Yax and Nick completely horrified about what was going on. "What!? Nick you're with me you can keep your clothes on!"

Nick walked a little closer to her with his paws behind his back, leaning forward with that same smile on his face he said, "but am I a cop or civilian consultant? No, no I am not. So I have to comply with the rules ain't that right Yax?"

Yax immediately bobbed his head. "He is right officer, I know he's not a cop so he's gotta follow the rules. Whether he's accompanying you or not."

Judy wanted to scream. She was saying oh my gods you're naked a lot today and it was a sentence she never thought she'd say more than once in a day and pertaining to multiple mammals. " _WHY!? WHY IS EVERYONE NAKED TODAY!? WHAT DID I DO!? First it was James, even though he was luckily wearing a towel but still! Then it was this Yak who's apparently named Yax, now Nick!? Why!?"_

Judy made sure to keep Nick's nakedness out of her view as she looked up at Yax's face and with a resigned tone said "let's just get this over with."

Yax bobbed his head as he turned and pushed the doors open "Nangi is just on the other side of the pleasure pool."

Time slowed for Judy as she was exposed to the Mystic Springs Oasis in full and her jaw morphed and her eyes widened in horror. Naked mammals. Naked mammals everywhere. She was seeing oh so many things she did not want to see, she might even need therapy after today. She couldn't help but say as her eyes were subjected to this torture was "sweet cheese and crackers."

Nick for his part was very very very satisfied. The bunny cop, or as he was referring to her as, carrots, was so extremely flustered right now. She wouldn't even glance in his direction, his plan was working splendidly. Then when she saw the Mystic Springs Oasis and she said that little phrase. He knew he had her. " _Cute. Utterly cute. Time to crank it up."_

Nick came up to Judy's side and leaned down to her level, with that same satisfied and smug grin on his face he said "you know there's no shame in quitting. Or you could at least cut me loose, cuz you see I'd rather come here on another day and I'd do just that and leave."

Judy took a deep breath and looking at Nick from the corner of her eye she steered her resolve and replied "yes there is, and no way. Now let's go."

With that Judy marched forward to follow Yax and Nick nodded once as he looked at her walking away. Straining himself and following her he muttered "well that's the spirit."

Nick deciding it was indeed time to crank things up he clasped his paws behind his back and picked up the pace to pass and then get in front of Judy. That way she HAD to look at his behind, literally. It was either that or she had to look to her left or right and there were naked mammals EVERYWHERE. She could of course look at the ground but then she ran the risk of running into his butt if he stopped suddenly. So that left her with no choice but to look at him. Of course he wasn't going to push it too far though and straight up flash her with his nether region, so he wasn't going to turn and face her nor move his tail enough to where she would see his extremities. He had some class. At worst she'd catch a glimpse of them as he walked, if she was really looking there. He'd save the crude jokes and pointing things out on the way back, and on the way out.

Judy was absolutely mortified, she was doing her best to look just at the ground when suddenly Nick passed her and got in front of her. Now she was forced to look at his naked body or risk bumping into his rear if he suddenly stopped! They were at the point where she couldn't go around him either or she'd risk bumping into mammals, and since they pretty much were all taller than her, she'd bump into their crotches and that's something she did NOT want.

_"You evil conniving fox! I am going to get you for this just you wait! Ugh I can't even tell James about this because one, this is SUPER EMBARRASSING and James would probably have joke after joke! And two Nick technically is following the rules! But ergh!"_

Resigned to looking at Nicks naked back she suddenly found herself kinda checking him out. " _His features are so different from any other mammal I've seen. Which pretty much is exclusively bunnies, and my brothers at that…well and James. Nick's body is so different, he's more lean…and skinnier. But he still has that unique muscle structure of a predator, and his fur it looks so course and so soft at the same time not to mention his fur is the same shade as a carrot.…and let's not get started on how utterly fluffy his tail looks.…it's all kind of appealing…woah! What the heck am I thinking!? Am I really checking out a predator!? But not to mention a jerk of one named Nick!? What am I doing!? Bad brain!"_

Judy shook her head fervently and lowered her gaze just in time to catch a glimpse of Nick's…." _AHHH WHY DID I DO THAT!? EYES UP JUDY!"_

Judy after accidentally catching a glimpse locked her gaze on the back of Nick's head and kept it there as they finally reached the yoga instructor.

_*After Judy gets her lead and Nick learns some new yoga positions…and puts his clothes back on*_

Nick and Judy walked out of the Mystic Springs Oasis Nick smugly smiling and Judy while excited that she got a genuine lead she was still blushing like crazy and mortified, mostly because of Nick's 'observations' and very crude jokes. In fact…."I mean did you see the size of that male zebra's…"

Judy decided she had enough, if she didn't stop him now she was probably going to combust from how red she was. Grabbing Nick's tie she yanked him down to eye level surprising him. Pointing a finger at him she said "I swear to the gods Nick if you say one more crude joke or keep talking about what happened in there I will tranq dart you in the crotch and drag your unconscious butt to the car by your tail!"

Nick quickly raised his paws as he said "yes ma'am." " _Okay, angry bunny is a little scary….but also unbelievably cute."_

Judy breathed an inward sigh of relief as she released his tie and said "good boy. Now get in the car."

Nick and Judy both climbed into the cruiser and Judy opened up the laptop that was inside. "Now that I am in the system it should be a simple matter of running the plate Yax gave me and then we will have our next destination."

With that sentence worry was brought back to the forefront of his mind. " _Crap crap crap crap. Odds are big white car equals limo which equals a certain shrew! Need to get out of this now!"_

Stuffing down that worry Nick looked over and Judy and said "okay I got you a lead splendid! Now can I go? You don't need me tagging along with you everywhere for the next 46 hours, I'm a bore honestly. I mean what can I possibly help you with? I'm no cop. What's the point of me staying on this impromptu ride along?"

Judy paused typing in the license plate number to look over at him. "I don't know, you're not a complete bore. An absolute jerk, yes. But a bore? What can you help me with? What was it that you said earlier, 'I know everybody.' A criminal that knows everyone could come in handy on this case, I do only have 46 hours to solve it after all. Besides, watching you suffer and try and get out of your punishment for being a grade A jerk is just flat out entertaining. So no request denied."

Nick let out a small growl of frustration as he crossed his arms and looked out the window and away from Judy in a pout. Judy giggled a little at that before she finished typing in the plate. "Let's see, the vehicle is registered to….Tundratown limo services! A limo picked up Otterton!"

Judy, too busy looking at the address, didn't see Nick flinch when she said Tundratown. " _Ohhhh crap. I'm dead. I am so very dead. Stepping into Tundratown is a death sentence for me, and we are about to go investigate one of the limos the mammal I'm most terrified owns. Ahhhhhh! And I can't tell Carrots here anything because that would spell disaster! Wanna scream wanna scream wanna scream! I can only pray none of his mammals are there and we can leave quick enough!...oh who am I kidding, this is the day I die."_

Resigned to his fate Nick sunk in his seat as Judy started the drive to Tundratown.

*Tundratown*

They reached Tundratown Limo Services well before the business closed. Judy parked the cruiser inside next to the office building and her and Nick exited the cruiser walking into the establishment through the small mammal doors. Approaching the front desk they were greeted by a moose who walked out to greet them, "good afternoon Officer. Is there something I can help you with?"

The moose after he said that greeting to Judy shot a hard look at Nick as if to say "what are you doing here?" Nick gulped. " _Of course the owner is in today. Fantastic."_

Judy gave the moose a smile as she replied "yes hi. I was wondering if I could take a look at one of your limos. It has the license plate 29THD03. It's connected to the missing mammals case I am working on. It was seen picking up the missing mammal the day he went missing."

The moose nodded and said "well I can't just allow you to go snooping around in one of the limos I lease out. That would breach my clients trust so I'm afraid you'll have to come back with a warrant."

Judy crossed her arms as she replied "oh and allow you to clean whatever I may find in there? No thank you, I got a lot riding on finding this missing mammal. So I think I'll just sit in my car and wait."

Nick had to admit he was a little impressed, mammals would be nervous seeing a cop car in front of this business and may look to another limo service thus hurting his business. It was clever, but it wouldn't work with this moose. He also didn't want to just sit here and wait because the moose would send word and then he'd be a foxcicle for sure. So Nick decided to help Judy out for a change.

"Yeah you know we could do that. And we can get a warrant to search ALL your limos and your office instead of just the one. Because I mean if just one was connected to a potential crime and definitely connected to a mammal that has gone missing that you won't let us see…what else could you be hiding in the rest? What secrets could we uncover?"

Judy looked at Nick pleasantly surprised that he was actually helping her out before looking back at the moose. The moose was now clearly very nervous. "Ah now I don't think that's entirely necessary…"

Judy could tell he just needed a little push. Grabbing Nick's arm and turning she said "that's a splendid idea, I'll call in the warrant to have them search this entire place top to bottom, search every limo, disassemble them just to be thorough. I mean it will take a few days but the possibilities of what we could find."

Judy and Nick began to walk out the door Judy pulling out her cellphone and they heard the moose mutter a curse before he yelled out "wait!"

Judy and Nick smirked at each other before they turned in unison. Smiling up at the moose Judy smiled and said "yes?"

Pinching his snout the moose said "fine. You can look at and in the particular limo you were asking about. I give you full permission. It's at the end of the lot and it should be unlocked. But make it quick please."

Judy wanted to pump her fist in satisfaction at breaking the moose but she maintained her composure and said, "why thank you. I will try and make it quick."

With that she and Nick exited the building and the Moose quickly pulled out his phone to make a call.

*after searching the limo and Nick quickly saying it was time to go*

Nick threw the limo door open just in time to see the two faces of massive polar bears he'd very much wish he hadn't. Especially because they didn't look very happy. Nick began to take a few little steps backward pushing Judy behind him as he did. "Kevin! And is that Raymond!? Hehe wow long time no see! Now speaking of seeing how about you pretend you didn't see me?"

Nick knew this was going to happen, he was on Mr. Bigs turf, a place he was never to set foot in. Worse still, he was in one of Big's limos. The odds of him living to see tomorrow was looking very slim at the moment. There was a slight pause as the polar bears Kevin and Raymond glanced at each other before looking back at Nick. Kevin then quickly shot a massive paw out and grabbed Nick by the throat yanking him out of the limo. In a strained voice Nick managed to get out as he was yanked "I guess not."

Raymond quickly went for Judy but the second Nick was grabbed so roughly Judy pulled her lethal firearm and pointed it at the pair. "ZPD back up right now!"

Raymond seeing an actual gun and realizing this was an actual officer he quickly backed up and put his paws in the air. He may be a polar bear and she may be a rabbit but she was packing heat and no matter his size he'd die with a squeeze of the trigger. Which quite frankly this crap wasn't worth it.

Once Raymond backed up Judy leveled the gun on Kevin and said "put him down. Now."

Kevin quickly complied, setting Nick back down next to Judy before backing up as well with his paws in the air. Nick breathed a huge sigh of relief and quickly brushed himself off, with a genuine tone in his voice he said "thanks for the save carrots."

Judy moved in front of Nick as she replied "no problem Slick. I take it these two work for this Mr. Big?"

Nick nodded and said, "yep, two of his enforcers."

Judy nodded once "good. So let's see we have aggravated assault and assault on an officer, now I could charge you with them. Or we can strike a deal."

Nick immediately interjected. "Uh no no. No deal, just arrest the big scary enforcers who want to kill me please."

Judy ignored Nick as Raymond tilted his head a bit. "What deal?"

"It's quite simple. You take me to your boss so we can have a nice candid conversation, or I arrest the two of you and then have my friend in FETRU use your arrests and the evidence I've gathered to raid Big's home and any place he is associated with."

As much as Nick was terrified to walk right into the preverbal lions den, he had to admit Judy's deal was incredibly smart. Using Jameson and FETRU as a weapon against them, there was no way they would refuse. Nick also had to admit, it appeared he might have misjudged Judy. She genuinely wanted to find Otterton and how quickly she jumped to his defense…maybe he did misjudge.

Raymond and Kevin quickly looked at each other before looking back at Judy and saying "agreed." At the same time. This was a real cop, and she was looking for Otterton as far as they could tell. Not to mention, today was really NOT a good day for a FETRU raid. They also really didn't want to catch any charges because these ones would definitely stick. So honestly they had no choice.

Hearing them agreeing to her deal Judy holstered her pistol and with a cheery tone said "splendid. Let's go! Oh and if while we are there if anyone tries to harm me or Nick that raid will come crashing down on you. I don't care what Nick may have done to piss Mr. Big off but he's with me, harm him and you'll have me and the entirety of ZBI FETRU on your tails. Okay? Good! Now lead the way!"

Nick was frozen in place for a moment as he watched Judy follow the two polar bears a skip in her step. Snapping out of it he quickly went to catch up with them. " _Yeah. I definitely misjudged you carrots."_

*arriving at Big's Mansion*

Judy pulled the cruiser into Big's Mansion having followed Raymond and Kevin's car. She parked right next to theirs and was about to exit when she decided to ask Nick something that had been nagging at her. "Hey Nick?"

Nick who had been scrolling through his phone to try and distract himself from the fact he was about to walk into the home of a mammal that said he would kill him if he ever did return. Hearing Judy say his name his ears perked up and looked her way. "Yeah fluff?"

"I'm curious. What exactly did you do to make this Mr. Big so mad that he wants to kill you?"

Nick nodded once kinda suspecting this was what she was going to ask about. "Yeah…I may have sold him a very expensive rug…that was made from a Skunks…Butt."

Judy immediately sank her body down a little as she whispered out a "sweet cheese and crackers."

Nick nodded a few times. "Mhmm, yeah. So when he kills me put some violets on my grave okay?"

Judy snorted a bit and smacked his arm. "Always so negative. I'll make sure you come out of this alive, just stick to my side, be nice, so don't be yourself…and I'd probably do just a tiny bit of groveling."

Now it was Nick's turn to snort as he reached for his door handle. "Already preparing my speech. Well let's get this over with, I'm wearing summer wear."

Judy and Nick exited the cruiser and fell in line behind Kevin and Raymond who both wasted no time starting off towards the mansion. Walking inside the place was massive to accommodate the sheer size of the polar bears. The interior of the mansion looked like it had jumped out of the movie The Godfather and just screamed "mob bosses house."

Sticking close they were led into an office where they were then told to wait. Nick knew this office very well, and what laid beneath that rug. Things weren't looking too good in his eyes at the moment. Judy meanwhile pulled out her phone and quickly shot a text to James filling him in on the situation. His reply was almost instant and Judy couldn't help but giggle at it.

"WTF Judy!? You wait until you're IN the mansion of one of the most dangerous crime bosses in Zootopia to tell me you're going to chat with him!? I swear to karma I'm going to start growing grey hairs because of you!….I got my team on standby."

Judy typed out a quick reply as she heard the massive footsteps of a polar bear approaching. Pretty soon the side door that Raymond and Kevin had left out swung open and the biggest polar bear Judy had ever seen walked through it having to duck his head as he did. This had to be ..well, at least that's what she thought until she heard a gravelly voice come from the polar bears paw.

"What is the meaning of this intrusion on the day my daughter is to be married!?"

Nick raised his eyebrows slightly when Big mentioned his daughter was getting married today. " _Fru's getting married? Good for her, probably that Antonio kid."_

Judy was confused about what was happening when the massive polar bear set down an older looking shrew in a tuxedo onto the giant desk. She was wondering who this shrew was when suddenly Nick stepped forward.

"Mr. Big sir I'm very sorry, we were not…"

The shrew Judy now, much to her shock, knew as being Mr. Big cut him off. "Silence Nicholas. I am not speaking to you, you I shall deal with later. I was speaking to the officer who was caught snooping in my limo."

Nick quickly stepped back with a gulp and Judy stepped forward. "No you will not be dealing with him later. He is with me, no matter his past transgressions you will not harm him or the entirety of the ZBI will come crashing down on you. After of course I do. As to coming here on the day your daughter is getting married, I apologize. I was not aware, congrats to her. Now I was 'snooping' in your limo because YOUR limo was the limo that picked up Emmit Otterton the day he went missing! And quite the scene I found in the limo when I took a look inside! You can try and intimidate me all you want but I am going to find out what happened to Otterton if it's the last thing I do. And so far all my evidence points to YOU having him either as a hostage, or you killed him. Wanna prove me wrong and claim your innocence? Then tell me what really happened."

Nick was absolutely stunned at the moment. Judy quickly jumped to his defense saying that he wasn't to be harmed he was finding it harder and harder and harder to be mad at her and to try and get out of his punishment as she called it. He was still furious at his brother, but Judy was making it difficult, and it was honestly frustrating because he wanted to be furious with her too. But, the longer he's with her the more he finds it hard. Judy is steadfast and dedicated to her job, she takes every jab he pulls in stride and even manages to fire back which is something he can't help but admire.

" _Darn it Carrots, why are you making this so hard? Why do you have to be so compassionate, smart, and annoyingly upbeat?"_

Mr. Big for his part, was actually a little bit impressed by the rabbit cop standing before him without a lick of fear, just straight up determination. "Meh, fine. Nicky you are lucky this rabbit here is jumping to your defense. You will be spared, but my words from before will still stand once you leave. You know, I'm very disappointed in you. I invited you into my home, we broke bread at my table, grandmama made you a cannoli. Now how did you repay that kindness? With a rug made of the butt of a skunk. You disrespected me, but even worse you disrespected grandmama after she had brought you in from the cold. If it wasn't for this rabbit here, I would ice you here and now."

Nick hearing Mr. Big express his disappointment in him he hung his head in shame. That definitely wasn't a high point in his life for sure. Mr. Big then looked to Judy and said "and as for you, you threaten my mammals and intruded on this most sacred of days. You defend this mammal that doesn't deserve it. I will not answer your questions, you were guaranteed an audience and nothing more. You may leave now, and don't try and argue."

At that Kevin and Raymond entered the room to escort them off the premises and they would have, if another polar bear hadn't entered carrying a female shrew in a wedding dress. "Daddyyyy! The priest is looking for you!"

Then she noticed everyone else, ignoring Nick she locked her gaze on the rabbit Officer. She looked very familiar….then it clicked. "Oh my gosh! You're that bunny who saved me the other day! From that giant donut! Hi!"

Judy couldn't believe the odds. "Well hi! Oh I love your dress!"

"Oh why thank you!"

Mr. Big looked back and forth between his daughter and Judy before he gestured to Judy. "This is the bunny that saved you?"

FruFru nodded rapidly "uh huh! If it wasn't for her I would have been crushed!"

Mr. Big nodded. "Well in that case. That changes things. You did me a great service saving my daughter. So I will pay it forward and tell you what happened to Otterton."

Mr. Big gestured to Judy to come forward and paced a kiss on each of her cheeks. Nick's jaw dropped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Done! What did y'all think about this one huh?
> 
> So Nick couldn't think of any way to get to Judy, so what does he do? He gets naked! Boom! Who saw that coming? Judy checking out foxes? Hmmm I wonder where this could lead…
> 
> So the things I altered about Judy and her policing of course should stick out to you. Change number one, when entering the MSO she announced herself as an officer. While the way she does it in the movie isn't technically working if you're on official police business you want to announce yourself.
> 
> Change two and this is the biggest change, is that since hey didn't need to go to the DMV they got to the place while it was open. In the movie when Judy gets her "probable cause" since she deliberately caused it, it's false pretenses and thus illegal and against protocol. Then the evidence she gathers in the Limo? Since she had no warrant nor permission the evidence was gained illegally. With the changes I made they entered while still open and the owner gave her permission to search the limo. All to protocol!
> 
> Now since I altered that, that in turn altered the interaction between Bigs goons and Big himself. Hope you all liked the changes! We all know what scene is coming next!
> 
> That's all I got so until next time this is TheConcernedF0X signing off! See you then!


	10. Weddings, Traffic, Savage mammals, and Drama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double release for ATB baby! Yeah!
> 
> Hello everyone sorry it’s been awhile since I last updated! But that’s because I was working on not one but two chapters each totaling over 7 thousand words! But now I have them finished and ready to deliver! I’m going to keep these notes short so y’all can jump in! Also, my brain is fried completely from writing for both this and school. So yeah…anyways you know the drill review/comment etc. etc. Blah blah blah story time!

Nick and Judy were promptly escorted out of the office following the massive polar bear that was carrying Mr. Big with Kevin and Raymond following close behind them. FruFru had insisted on Judy carrying her to whatever their destination was so there she was in Judy’s paw chatting away with her, girl talk mostly from what Nick could hear. This whole situation was so utterly ridiculous to him, on the way here to this cursed mansion he was sure he was on his way to his icy death, but here was, about to attend the wedding of the daughter of the mammal he feared most in the world and wished him dead. That was the deal, Big would tell Judy what happened to Otterton AFTER the wedding, since it was so close to starting, Judy had agreed much to Nick’s dismay but even he had to admit, they needed to know what happened to Otterton.

Nick had been against babysitting Hopps through this sham case since the beginning. But, after seeing the state of that limo Nick had to admit he was more invested in helping this crazy bunny out. Not for her sake, not even for Otterton’s, not exactly at least. No he was more invested in helping Judy for Otterton’s two little ones, the loss they must be feeling was one Nick was very familiar with…the only difference is they had the chance their father would come back, and if Nick could help bring that about he was darn sure he was going to help see this case through. He was going to help get those boys their father back so they never got to feel the way he and Jameson did.

He was very surprised by this sudden conviction, this eagerness to help. Nick in his entire life hadn’t felt like this before, it was a little bit unnerving….but at the same time, it felt good, being helpful. He even felt maybe even a little optimistic, and glancing to his right he guessed why he was feeling this way. “ _Jeez carrots, only 6 hours in and it would appear your rubbing off on me. By 48 hours I just might just morph into a bunny ball of optimism at this rate.”_

_*3 hours later, 11PM, 33 hours left to solve the case*_

It has been a nice wedding, Nick had to admit it. He had been right Fru was marrying that Antonio kid he remembered Fru was dating back when Nick was still Red Rouge, so he was happy for her. He had stayed at the very back of the wedding, knowing he wasn’t exactly a welcome guest here. Judy had the option to be up in the front by Fru’s offer, but of course in her annoyingly nice way declined and chose to stick next to him. He of course had asked her why, she simply replied “well Slick someone has to babysit you.”

She was calling him that a lot, Slick. He had to admit he didn’t mind, normally calling a fox slick was for speciesist reasons and said with a negative tone. But with Judy she said it with no such tone, she called him it in a jest of sorts. Besides, the nickname for him pretty much fit. It was pretty much same anyways for him calling her Carrots, it had started out as him using the name for that negative reason. But now, it just seemed to fit, there was no negative connotation behind him saying it anymore.

It was still staggering to him how quickly he had went from hating this bunny and everything about her, and everything about this whole entire situation, to actually sort of kind of just a little bit…liking her. As much as he tried to keep hating her the longer he was around her the more he found that he just couldn’t, and he was grasping at straws now just trying to come up with reasons not to like her. Sadly the only thing he could come up was with her affiliation of his dick of a brother, but then again most if not all of that anger was aimed just at his brother.

As much as Nick didn’t want to, he’d been thinking a lot about his brother today. Jameson had just appeared out of nowhere after 11 years as a ZBI agent and scarred up like no tomorrow, not to mention crippled. The one thing Nick has been thinking about most was the last time he had seen him, those 11 years ago. It had been completely by accident, Nick has already run away from home a few years prior to lessen the strain on his mom. He had been walking to the place he called his home when suddenly he bumped right into Jameson. When he backed up he had been shocked to see his older brother, but Jameson had been even more surprised, scared even. Jameson had looked terrible, disheveled and dirty clothes, blood dotted along them and his right ear had fresh nicks in them from a claw swipe. It looked he had been in a fight in the last few days, but worst still it was the middle of the day and his pupils were as wide as saucers so dilated. He was on some type of drugs and seeing him like that….pissed Nick off so much. His older brother, the mammal he had looked up to for long was standing in front of him as a junkie. Nick had grown so furious that when Jameson said his name and a nervous hello Nick had simply punched him in the face as hard as he could and walked away.

He had knocked Jameson to the ground with his punch and walked past him not bothering to look back, and Jameson hadn’t even tried to stop him or pursue him. He instead heard his older brother get up slowly, let out a sniffle, and mutter “I deserve worse than that, I know I do.” Nick was thinking about that a lot, why he had said it like that, and Nick was thinking about that super nasty scar upon James face. As much as Nick didn’t want to think or worry about his brother Nick kept asking himself, “ _Did James do that to himself?”_

Nick shook his head dispelling those thoughts about his brother, now wasn’t the time for them and as far as Nick was concerned Jameson didn’t deserve them. Besides there was more pressing matters to attend to, like hearing what Big knows about what happened to Otterton. It was the reception of the wedding now and cake, very very tiny cake had been handed out to everyone. It was about time for Big to tell them just what went down in that limo of his.

* _after learning what happened to Otterton*_

Nick and Judy were quite shocked to hear about what happened to Otterton, that he went savage and attacked one of Big’s limo drivers. What Big described did seem to match the scene they found in the limo, the claw marks made on the upholstery was very small, more consistent with an otter. The leading question though in both their minds was “what caused Otterton to go savage?”

Judy thanked Mr. Big profusely for the information making sure to write everything down, ever the proficient bunny cop. Meanwhile Nick had to work to stifle yawns, foxes may be nocturnal in nature but he hadn’t been a fully nocturnal mammal in a large number of years, so he was beat. Judy on the other hand looked like she could go run a marathon she was so ecstatic to get yet another lead, but Nick could see under that under all of that she was getting tired to, and would eventually crash out. Considering she was the one driving that wasn’t a big appeal to him, he wanted to die quietly in his sleep at the ripe age of 85, not at the age of 28 because a bun couldn’t keep her eyes open.

Leave it to Judy though to already be saying it was time to go. “Thank you so much for all of your help Mr. Big, and this was such a lovely wedding. But me and Nick really must be going, got to hit this next lead and all.”

Mr. Big nodded and replied “meh, you are quite welcome my dear. Know you are welcome here anytime, I am sure my daughter would love your company. I will also be spreading the word that I am at your back, no mafioso will dare risk touching you, and I will not have you declining this gesture. You saved the life of my daughter, the least I can do is keep some of the more dangerous mammals in Zootopia from harming you. Also if you ever need any help outside of the law, know you have a friend in me my dear.”

He addressed this next part to Nick. “Oh and Nicky?”

Nick flinched at Big saying his name and with some nervousness in his tone he replied “Yes sir?”

Big pointed to Judy and said “you better have this bunny’s back like she has yours. Because if you don’t and you cross her you won’t need to step foot in my turf again for me to ice you. Understood?”

Nick gulped as he glanced at Judy and quickly said, “yes sir. Understood, 100% percent.”

Judy had to admit she was surprised by the gesture Mr. Big bestowed upon her, and she also appreciated it. He was going to insure the criminal underworld didn’t touch her by fear of harsh penalties, that’d make her parents worry less. She was about to thank him when he then addressed Nick, threatening him with death if he crossed her, threat of death aside it was endearing. Judy couldn’t resist a small smile as she said, “thank you Mr. Big, you are to kind. I’d love to hang out with FruFru some more. I really appreciate the gesture that you would help keep me protected from the criminal underworld, my parents would be overjoyed to here it were they not to die from heart attacks when told how I got it. I will also keep that last bit in mind, but I doubt I will ever need to call upon you like that. Oh and don’t you worry about ‘Nicky’ here, I can handle him just find.”

Nick gave a small pout at that and Mr. Big chuckled. “My dear, I don’t doubt that. Goodnight.”

Nick have Mr. Big a small bow as he stepped back and Judy not knowing what to do with that simply mimicked him. They both turned and then walked away from the table, Raymond and Kevin stepping forward to escort them through and out of the mansion. Following the two polar bears Judy couldn’t contain her excitement as she said “Yes! A new lead to follow! Let’s go speak to this Mr. Manchas!”

Nick gave her a look as he yawned hard before saying, “look Carrots, loving the enthusiasm. Really. But it’s 11pm, wouldn’t sleep be a better option and go see him in the morning?”

Judy naturally looked at him like he was crazy. “What!? No! Nick you know I got 48 hours to solve this case or I’m done! Every second counts!”

Nick, in fact, did not know that. “What? No I did not know that.”

Judy was confused, “did..James not tell you anything?”

A head shake. “Babysit the bunny for 48 hours and do everything she says, that’s about it.”

“….and I didn’t tell you that?”

Another head shake. “Unless you’re counting thirty seconds ago, then, yes.”

Judy nodded slowly. “Huh.”

Nick didn’t know what Judy meant by she’d be done if she didn’t solve this case in 48 hours, quite frankly he didn’t want to ask because he felt it’d be quite a tale. Right now at least, he was to tired to hear a long story. So instead he pushed past that and asked, “well Carrots, how much longer do you have on the clock?”

The response came quick. “32 hours 48 minutes.”

With that number in mind Nick made his case. “Look Judy, we should go to sleep like I said earlier. 5 to 7 hours shaved off for a good rest isn’t going to kill you. I may be a nocturnal mammal, but you’re not, and last I recalled bunnies couldn’t drink actual coffee. I don’t need you say falling asleep while driving, and while you may be bounding with energy right now I can tell you’re getting tired. You’re not as sharp as earlier today, you’re forgetting details, like you didn’t tell me you only have 32 hours and such. Besides, even though Manchas is a panther and therefore nocturnal, he’s worked a daytime shift for a long time same as me. Odds are he’ll be sleeping, it’d be common courtesy and easier to talk to him in the morning. If you’re worried about him not being there Mr. Big did say he was taking a couple of weeks off. So there’s no worries, you won’t hit that deadline I’m sure of it, look how far you’ve already come in such a small time. You’re on a roll carrots.”

As much as Judy wanted to argue the fact and keep going, Nick was making some really good points. She was indeed starting to get tired, and she could tell Nick was beat as well. They were on a roll, and she already had so much evidence for the case as it was. They could afford to rest some. “Fine Nick, I see your point. We can get some sleep but you’re not going home, the cruiser is plenty cozy enough and has a tone of space for us to get some sleep in the back and still not be even close to each other. I will drive us out of Tundratown and pull off on as service road so we can sleep. 6 hours only though.”

Nick wasn’t willing to counter any of that, he was to tired and honestly the back of the cruiser would be much nicer scenery than home. “That’s agreeable enough. I just hope we will have time for a coffee stop in the morning.”

As they walked together towards Judy’s cruiser she replied, “I will consider it.”

Nick still to tired to argue said, “I guess that’s the best I’ll get. Let’s hit the hay.”

*the morning, 26 hours left to solve the case*

Judy woke up a 5am sharp, her biological clock waking her before her alarm ever did. Sitting up she yawned before pulling the blanket she had off of her and looking around, she had ended up sleeping in the driver seat of her cruiser, it was plenty large enough for her to lay down and sleep comfortably. Nick was there next to her in the passenger seat, curled up in tight fox ball that was ridiculously cute as he still slept soundly. Judy simply couldn’t resist snapping a photo of him, perhaps she could use it as blackmail later.

As she looked at the photo she came to a realization. She wasn’t the one that had the blanket last night, she had given it to Nick for him to use since there had only been one. Nick had insisted he did not need it his long fur being enough to keep him warm and that she should take it. Judy promptly threw the blanket at his face and told him to “take the dang thing already.”

Pulling the blanket off of his face Nick had conceded and settled in to sleep same as Judy. She must have fallen asleep first though and Nick put the blanket on her once he knew she was asleep. “ _What a gentlemammal.”_ Nick had been surprising her ever since he got assigned to ‘babysit’ her. At first he was a grade A jerk just like he had been the day she first met him, but then his attitude and how he acted started to change as the day went on. He stopped throwing verbal barbs at her and instead simply talked to her, he less jabbed and more joked, and he a actually ended up willingly helping her out with the case.

But what stuck out to her the most was when Kevin and Raymond were there at the limo Nick without hesitation pushed her behind him to shield her. Judy wasn’t even sure if Nick realized he had done so, but he did. He unarmed and not a cop, immediately shielded her, a cop, from threats without a second thought. Then he did it again the entire time they were at Big’s, Nick would always place himself in front of her, only backing off when Mr. Big showed up. It just really stuck out to her that he would do such a thing. He overall appeared to be being…nicer.

So with this most recent gesture of his Judy decided she would repay the favor. He wasn’t due to wake up until six as they agreed, so she would go get him some coffee and breakfast to wake up to as a thank you. Luckily Nick last night had said he loved pure black coffee, preferably from Snarlbucks, so there was going to be no guess work I’m what he would like. Breakfast wise she would get him a breakfast sandwich from Snarlbucks while she was there, with whatever meat they had. She knew foxes needed protein and she hadn’t seen him any since he got stuck with her, so he definitely needed some.

Judy exited the cruiser as quietly as she could so she didn’t disturb Nick sleeping, and luckily for her he did not budge an inch. Closing the door softly she pulled out Zoogle Maps on her phone for the nearest Snarlbucks, last night she had pulled into an alley just outside of Tundratown for them to clock out so luckily there was one only ten minutes away. But, there was a pit stop she was going to have to make first, a pharmacy store to get some high strength bunny musk mask. She did not want Nick smelling and then commenting on her morning scent, he was probably going to at least get a small whiff when he woke up but hopefully the coffee would mask it…hopefully.

Judy returned at 6 am sharp with a large fox sized coffee in paw and a salmon steak breakfast sandwich in paw for Nick. The coffee she had known what to get, for the sandwich she had reached out to James to see what Nick would like. She had been keeping James informed about the case since it’s start, and Nicks behavior minus the entire Mystic Springs Oasis situation. James had told her “ _can’t go wrong with salmon. One of his favorites and it contains a great amount of Taurine, something we foxes need.”_ Opening up the cruiser door Judy set the items on the seat before hopping in, and before she could even begin to shut the door she heard Nick mumble “I smell coffee.”

Judy giggled at that as she saw Nick’s eyes were still glued shut, so shutting the door she took the coffee and placed it in front of his nose. Soon Nick was sniffing the roast while still mostly dead to the world and it caused for his eyes to creak open. Nick slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the Snarlbucks logo staring him right in the face, that woke him up. Letting out a big foxy yawn he quickly sat up grabbing the coffee as he did, looking over at Judy he couldn’t believe what was happening.

“You went and got me coffee?”

Judy had to giggle at the way Nick looked in that moment, bewildered and in awe. Holding up the bag she said “mhmm, and breakfast.”

Nick couldn’t believe this was happening, so there was only one thing he could think to say to the mammal who got up, let him sleep, and went and got him coffee AND breakfast. “Marry me.”

Judy immediately burst out in laughter at that as Nick looked at her like she was a goddess while hugging the cup of coffee like it was his child. To Nick she might had well been a goddess, any negative thoughts he had about her were no absolutely gone now. She could be Satan in disguise and he wouldn’t care, she let him sleep in and brought him his favorite coffee on the entire planet earth. For him that’s an immediate get out of jail free card, and getting him breakfast was a neat bonus. Nick didn’t waste anymore time and took a big sip of the coffee and let out a deep sigh as the elixir of life flowed through him.

Judy shook her head at Nicks antics and said “sorry Slick but I’m going to have to decline marrying you, you’d be cheating on your coffee.”

Nick now more awake and his walls and defense mechanisms going back in place snorted at that and replied, “yeah you’re right. You couldn’t handle me anyways.”

Judy shook her head as she gave his arm a light jab. “Oh noo Slick it’s you that couldn’t handle me. Early mornings, lots of exercise, no more hustles, and so much more.”

Nick after another sip of coffee said, “hmm yeah you’re right again, you are a little Energizer bunny that’s for sure. But, in all seriousness, thank you for this.”

Judy hummed at that and replied “you’re quite welcome Slick. I figured you deserved it for being such a gentlemammal last night, because as I recall I gave you the blanket last night.”

Nick in a rare moment of weakness felt bashful at receiving such praise from Judy, it made him feel…tingly. So naturally he covered it up with a joke “well some bunny teeth chattering was keeping me up so I figured you needed the blanket more than I did.”

That wasn’t really to far from the truth last night, around 2am Nick woke up for no particular reason and discovered Judy curled up in a tight ball shivering lightly. With the cruiser off as not to waste gas or battery and only being a little out of Tundratown it was a little chilly. Nothing that would bother him with his longer fur, but Judy on the other paw wasn’t faring to well. So Nick did not hesitate to take off the blanket and lay it over Judy instead, essentially tucking her in. Judy sighed in her sleep from the sudden warmth and stopped her shivering, so Nick called his job done and quickly curled up into his typical ball to fall back asleep.

Judy upon hearing the joke let out a snort of her own and said “I wasn’t that cold!”

Nick gave her a look and said “and how would you know, you were fast asleep. I saw you were cold and knew I was fine without the blanket with my fur, so I gave it to you.”

Judy had to admit, when she had laid down to fall asleep last night it was a little chilly…”well, thank you Nick for that. Now hurry up and dig in, we need to get going.”

Nick hummed in response and set his coffee aside, picking up the bag and opening it he was immediately hit with the smell of fish. Looking over at Judy in shock he closed the bag and said “you got me fish?”

Judy became slightly concerned as she answered him. “Yeah? A salmon steak breakfast sandwich…was I wrong to get you fish do you not like it or..”

Nick quickly cut her off. “Nono I absolutely love salmon! It’s just…you, a bunny, bought me a predator, fish? I’m just shocked is all, didn’t think you would be able to stomach it…”

Judy shrugged at that. “Eh, the smell is a little off putting and you should have seen the looks when I bought it. But other than that it’s fine, and you don’t have to be bashful when you eat it either Nick. I live in a city full of predators and work at a job that’s majority predator. Seeing predators eat meat is something I am going to have to get used to.”

Nick nodded at Judy’s explanation as he almost cautiously opened the bag. “And would this be the first time you saw a predator eat meat?”

Judy shook her head. “No the second, I saw your brother eating shrimp once.”

Nick pointedly ignored the mention of his brother and instead asked, “you’re sure you’re okay with this?”

Judy responded my smacking his arm. “Nick I told you it’s fine! Eat! And I swear if I catch you trying to eat tepidly like one show of your fangs is going to make me hurl I will kick you.”

With the treat of violence if he didn’t eat Nick conceded and said, “fine! Okay I’ll eat it! Are you sure you’re not a predator trapped in a buns body? because you certainly don’t act like a regular one.”

Judy let out a snort at that. “Oh no, you’ve found out my secret! I’m a werebun!”

Nick as he unwrapped his breakfast simply replied “honestly I kinda believe it.”

Judy smacked his arm again. Nick rubbed his arm as he chuckled before unwrapping the sandwich, looking at Judy through his peripherals as he did. So far she did not seem fazed, though he saw her nose crinkle at the smell of the salmon. With Judy’s threat in mind Nick did not hesitate to take a bite of the sandwich, but he was very mindful to chew in a way that his fangs weren’t exposed to much. As he chewed he noticed that as much as Judy put on a brave face, she was indeed a little unsettled by the sight. But other than that she was faring better than most prey mammals that saw a predator eat meat.

As he eat the sandwich he had to keep himself from moaning. It had been so long since he had fish or any type of meat, he forgot how heavenly it was. Sadly for him meat was saved for very special occasions, he couldn’t afford to splurge on it…he couldn’t afford to splurge on a lot of things.

Once his breakfast was done Judy started the car and they were off towards the rainforest district. There was a peaceful silence between the duo for awhile as Nick was content to just drink his coffee, and Judy was focused in on finding Otterton today. Eventually though as Nick drank a thought crossed his mind that he had to voice. “hey Carrots?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you not get yourself any breakfast?”

Judy glanced over at Nick and noticed he had a quizzical look on his face. “No I did, it just didn’t last to the car, I was famished.”

Now that had been a blatant lie. Judy could only afford breakfast for one of them, so since Nick had been such a gentlemammal the night before she bought it for him. She decided that when it came to lunch today she would get something that she and him could split, that way she could get her fill in. She’d order something fox size and hope he’d be okay with it, but that was for later in the day.

Nick for his part was trying to decide if he believed her, his instincts was telling him no but he didn’t want to call her on it. Instead he wanted to get the story on why Judy only has 48 hours to solve the case, now 26 hours by her count. “So Carrots, I was wondering why exactly you only have a certain set amount of time to solve this case. If you don’t mind giving me the story.”

Judy let out a sigh before she replied, “well I am dragging you along with me, so I suppose you deserve to know.”

*after Judy tells Nick how she only got 48 hours*

Nick has to admit it was an overall amusing tale of how Judy managed to screw herself into only having 48 hours to solve the case. He already teased her with several jokes, but he ended cutting back when his arm started going numb from punches. But through the amusement was a little bit of concern and empathy, her boss railroaded her into the time constraint and obviously didn’t have her back at all. He deliberately set her up to fail at every turn, if it wasn’t for his brother stepping in and tearing her Chief a new one she might have actually gotten stuck being a token bunny.

Nick now saw why Judy was all Team Jameson, taking his side with things. He stuck his neck out to start her career and then again to help save it, and now it was starting to make a little sense why he made Nick babysit Judy. She needed help genuinely and since Jameson couldn’t help her to busy with his cushy job, he went with a mammal he knew. “ _So maybe this wasn’t all about punishment after all huh Jameson? You always were clever you bastard.”_

Nick was so lost in thought he didn’t realize the critical mistake Judy had made until it was to late. Judy was going to be pissed. “Ah shoot Carrots, I should have told you not to take this exit.”

Judy looked over at Nick quizzically. “Why? This is the direction the GPS is telling me to take.”

Nick nodded and replied, “well true normally this would be the best way to the rainforest district from here, if it wasn’t for…well that.”

Nick didn’t need to explain the reason any further as Judy quickly discovered it. “A Sloth Convention!?”

Sure enough there it was, a Sloth Convention taking up the entire city block they were on…and about 20 every which direction because of standstill traffic. Because…you know…Sloth Convention. Roads were blocked by Sloths crossing the streets, accidents because of sloths blocking the streets, sloths driving, sloths trying to parallel park, Sloths trying to normal park, just general slothness. Nick knew it but Judy didn’t, but they were going to be stuck her for a few hours. Vendors were already walking through the sea of vehicles selling food and drinks.

Judy went to hit the sirens to maybe try and get through but Nick stopped her. “I wouldn’t Carrots. It ain’t going to help anything, you might as well get comfortable. We’re going to be here for awhile. And again, I am so sorry that I didn’t warn you in time.”

Judy looked over at Nick and in a desperate tone said “please tell me we’re only going to lose an hour being stuck here?”

Nick gave her a slightly sympathetic look before turning to look out his window. “Hmm, I think the earliest they’ve ever cleared this mess is about six hours.”

Judy promptly began lightly banging her head into the steering wheel.

*6 hours later*

They were still stuck. Judy had threatened Nick with violence about two dozen times and gone through all the stages of grief about 6 times over. Nick felt for her, he really did, but kept his mouth shut in fear of drawing her ire. As he gazed out his open window through his shades he saw a familiar face walking towards the convention.

“Flash flash hundred yard dash!”

A sloth now identified as Flash every so surely turned to face Nick. Once the two minutes of recognition passed Flash slowly smiled and said “Niiiicccckkkkk!”

*1 hour later*

They were still stuck.

“….so hey Flash, wanna hear a joke?”

Judy began beating her head on the steering wheel again. 

It had taken ten hours to get clear of the Sloth Convention and into the Rainforest District. Now she only had 16 hours left to solve the case, 16. One little mistake, a wrong exit taken, had cost her ten hours. Judy wanted to cry, but she settled for screaming in frustration, several times. Nick, what a trooper he was tried to console her as best he could, and it worked to some degree. Lots of pep talking, jokes, the works.

Nick for his part felt terrible, he’d apologized so much Judy starting wacking him to make him stop. But if he had been paying better attention he could have warned her in time, but instead he had been to busy watching Carrots as she told her story. So, maybe it was partially her fault in the fact she drew him in so much. Nick now knew that with 16 hours left on the clock they were going to have to do double time if they wanted to solve this case. No sleep, no food breaks, running everywhere breaking driving laws, possible peeing in a bottle at least in his case. But if it meant Judy got her missing otter, then pass him a bottle.

Nick and Judy got to the neighborhood Big’s driver Mr. Manchas lived and exited the Cruiser, he lived up in the canopy. So that meant a short hike up to reach him, which meant they had to run up it because walking was no longer a luxury they had. Nick wasn’t looking forward to it, he may be a very fast fox when he wanted to be. But, in bursts because his endurance is crap. A run up to the canopy would be a workout of for sure, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

Once they reached the Canopy and the street, if it could really be called that, Manchas lived at the Rainforest district stayed true to its name and it started to rain. Nick and Judy quickly jogged across the rope bridge leading to Manchas’ house Nick shaking out his fur once under cover. Judy excited to finally see what Manchas had to say found the doorbell and gave it a ring.

*After Manchas goes savage*

Judy didn’t know how it happened, but Mr. Manchas had gone completely savage. Nick and Judy immediately jumped back as Manchas turned towards them. Judy thought fast and drew her brand new tranquilizer gun and quickly fired off three darts, all of them hitting their marks. Unfortunately, where Manchas should have been taken a catnap, he just looked more pissed off. Nick seeing this as he was backing up wildly gestured and said “shoot him again!”

Judy not believing this was happening yelled “I can’t! Anymore could kill him!”

“Well he’s about to kill us!”

Judy holstered her tranq pistol and grabbed Nick arm yelling, “Yeah I know! Now run!”

*after Nick and Judy fall*

There had been several miracles that had happened that night, most of them accumulating on the fact that Nick and Judy didn’t die. The sheer amount of luck the duo must have to have survived several steep falls and multiple attacks by Savage Manchas and to come through unscathed. Another miracle was that they hadn’t run into any civilians this evening that Manchas could have went after instead. Nick had guided her to make sure they didn’t run into any like a trooper.

Judy had even managed to cuff Manchas to a light poll before they took a plummet, only being saved by vines. Now all that was left was to hike back up there, unfortunately for the pair, they had company with them. Judy while running had called for back up and they arrived, led by Chief Bogo himself. The second Nick had seen Chief Bogo and heard him say “well this should be good” Nick knew he didn’t like him, he also didn’t like the way Bogo had looked at him either. Bogo certainly wasn’t setting a good impression of himself.

As they all hiked back up to the tram platform Judy gave a rundown on everything she’d done so far to find Otterton. Nick could feel the other officers eyes on him as they walked but he pointedly ignored them, instead focused on Judy and her conversation with her superior. From what Nick could tell Bogo either wasn’t buying what Judy was saying or simply didn’t care, either way it was aggravating to Nick.

Once they reached the top though and discovered that Manchas was gone things escalated. Bogo began laying into Judy accusing her of lying about the savage jaguar and everything else in a vain attempt to prove she could actually do the job. Then when Judy tried to call Nick in he stepped forward, just to hear the words “what? You think I’m going to believe a fox?”

Those words stung just as much as they pissed Nick off, but he never let it show on his face. “ _Never let them see that they get to you.”_

Nick didn’t think it could get much worse, but then Bogo demanded Judy’s badge stating that time was up. Judy tried to speak so shocked in that moment but Bogo cut her off and demanded her badge even louder. Nick was stunned, all of the hard work Judy was putting in to find Otterton and prove to the mammals around her that she could do the job, and it was being spit on. She was being spit on. Nick in that moment was taken back to his childhood, when his dreams were crushed and utterly destroyed, it was like he was looking in a mirror.

Nick looked around and noticed not one of the other officers here were going to speak up in Hopps defense, and Judy was about to start taking of her badge. “No.” “ _Not again.”_

Bogo was surprised when the fox spoke, “what did you say fox?”

Nick stepped forward and said it much louder and clearer. “I said no! She will not be giving you her badge. Not today. Not ever.”

Nick strolled over to Hopps and Bogo and said “The nerve you have Chief! You cajoled her into taking a bet to solve a case in two days that you haven’t even come remotely close to cracking in two weeks! Meanwhile Officer Hopps here has been finding and tracking leads left and right and has made more progress then your entire department COMBINED on these missing mammal cases in the span of just over a day! This is of course after you deliberately set her up to fail in the first place! You never even got her any proper gear buying instead a costume! An issue she had to put trust in another fox to remedy! You’ve given her no support at all, no wonder she had to seek the help of a fox! None of you were going to help her, we’re you!?”

Bogo went to speak, but Nick was on a role. “Ah-Ah I ain’t finished yet Chief! Officer Hopps here is the single most dedicated Officer I have ever seen or met in my entire life and you should be praising the gods you got so lucky to have her! Not trying to throw her away like a piece of trash! No wonder my brother had to step in and then send me to help! Your just a sad excuse for a Chief aren’t you, he shouldn’t have spared you or given you the benefit of the doubt. Oh and by the way you gave her the 48 hours right? Well then by all rights she has 15 hours left, so we need to get going we have a very big lead to check. Good day.”

With that Nick put a paw on Judy’s shoulder and escorted her over to a eating tram car. Nick opened the door for her and she got in to shocked to speak and Nick quickly got in behind her the car taking off once he shut the door. Bogo was just as shocked, but mostly angry as he watched the tram move away. Bogo didn’t bother trying to yell out or anything, the fox was right after all, Hopps did technically have 15 hours left. So instead he turned to rejoin his officers and head back to the precinct, he had some research to do on the fox that just gave him a verbal lashing. Maybe even the whole Wilde family.

Judy was reeling from what just happened. She honestly should have seen Bogo dismissing her findings so far and everything else including asking for her badge coming, and she kind of did. But either way that’s not what had her reeling, no. Instead what did was that Nick came to her defense so swiftly and vehemently. Nick gave Bogo a verbal lashing that rivaled the one he had given her the first day they met and she could see that it got to Bogo, he certainly hadn’t been expecting it. But neither had she.

Nick once again blew her away with his actions. He was nothing like he was when she first met him, he was compassionate, kind, strong hearted, witty, funny, and maybe even a little bit charming. He was proving himself just to be perfectly amazing, a fast friend, and an ally she knew she could count on. He was also proving to have the attributes that would make him a perfect cop, she could see it. He had this desire to help mammals seeded deep down within him that was bubbling to the surface now. To be loyal and protect others, to be trusted. If only she knew just how deeply he yearned for that, to be trusted, to be able to trust.

Judy was so lost in her thoughts she almost jumped when Nick murmured “never let them see that they get to you Hopps. If you do, they win.”

This statement peaked Judy’s interest to learn a little bit more about Nick.

*after Nick tells the scout story*

Judy wanted to cry. The story Nick has just told her was truly terrible. No wonder he acted the way he did when she first met him, and no wonder he hides his true self behind many walls. Hear heart broke when Nick finished his tale with that sad and dejected statement, she wanted to give him the biggest hug possible. Nick on his part hating recalling that memory, but he felt Judy more than anyone deserved to hear it. He of course wasn’t going to tell her that he hadn’t told anyone outside of his family that story.

Feeling crummy and seeing that look of pity of Judy’s face he decided to try lightening the story up. “Of course the second Jameson learned about what happened to me that night he paid those jerks a visit. You can imagine how that went.”

Judy quickly got the image of a younger Jameson kicking the crap out of that group of scouts and smiled softly at that saying “good. They got what they deserved then, and Nick you are so much more than that.”

With that Judy put a paw on his arm looking up at him with those big purple orbs of hers filled with such compassion. He wasn’t used to mammals looking at him like that, like he mattered. Unfortunately the moment was ruined when another memory surfaced, he had mentioned Jameson’s part in the scout incident and thinking on that led him to the aftermath. To prey supremacy teens finding out and ambushing him and Jameson, to Jameson picking him up and throwing him over a fence telling him to run, to Jameson being almost beaten to death with pipes, to him finding Jameson in a pool of his own blood.

Seeing that image of Jameson blocked out Judy’s eyes of compassion and Nick pulled away from her quickly and awkwardly. Judy thought Nick was feeling vulnerable at that moment and that’s why he pulled away so she tried to get through to him, to let him know it’s okay. Meanwhile Nick had to distract himself from everything so time to deflect. “Wow look at all that traffic down there. Let’s take it to Chuck! Chuck how’s those jam cams looking!”

“Nick, it’s okay, I’m glad you told me.”

Lightbulb. “The jam cams…..”

Judy shook her head a little as she went to put a paw on Nick again “Nick it’s…”

Nick quickly cut her off. “Shush hold on a minute carrots! Look! There are jam cams all over the canopy! So whatever happened to that Jaguar…”

Judy quickly saw where he was going. “The jam cams would have caught it! You just saved the case! Good job slick!”

Nick smirked at her praise before saying “well unfortunately, it does mean you have to walk back into the precinct to look at them though.”

Judy was way ahead of him now. “Not so fast! It just so happens that I got a friend in the ZBI.”

Nick groaned. “Aw do I have to go?”

Judy punched his arm as she beamed up at him. “Absolutely!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What you thought I was skipping or getting rid of Flash!? Forshame!


	11. One small step forward

* _ZBI Headquarters*_

Judy had called James once Nick figured out looking at the Jam cams. He’d answered quickly and Judy gave him a quick run down of what happened. James naturally was furious about Bogo and Judy had to talk him down from his rage, once he was in a calmer mood he brought up the assumption that she wanted to look at the jam cams using his computer. Judy should have known he would figure it out, she had said yes. James had simply said “I will meet you there” and hung up. Just as Judy feared since it was late in the evening James was already at home, she’d make sure to apologize.

Pulling into the FETRU parking garage Judy and Nick quickly saw James. He was sitting on the hood of his cruiser dressed in a grey suit, the left pant leg of his slacks was pulled up showing the nasty scar and his mechanical brace. Judy was unsure why he had it like that, and Nick tried not to look at his leg or think about it to much, all he wanted to feel towards his brother was anger. James spotted them quickly and waved to them, pointing at the empty parking spot next to his cruiser.

Judy parked the car and glanced over at Nick observing his face. She could tell there was a lot of emotions and thoughts going through him at the moment, anger though was at the forefront. She had tried a few times to get Nick to talk about his brother, tell his side of the story. But Nick had blatantly refused each time, even snapping at her after her third attempt. Nick had felt terrible after doing it though and apologized, but Judy brushed it off, she shouldn’t have pushed and she told him as much. After that she left the topic rest.

But now she was about to put the two brothers side by side together. Hopefully this wouldn’t explode in her face in anyway and the two would talk some, or at the very least be civil. James had told her that the reunion between them hadn’t gone very well, and that he has ended up snapping at his brother pretty hard. So that left a worry in her mind that neither would behave themselves. She couldn’t rightly control the behavior of James, but hopefully she could reign in her fox’s behavior.

Judy reached out and put a paw on Nick’s arm to get his attention and said with a gentle tone. “Hey Slick.”

Nick lifted his gaze from his lap and said “yeah Carrots?”

Judy took a breath and spoke. “Look I know the relationship between you and James is a little dicey right now, but I need the both of you, especially you. I can’t have you two getting into a fist fight or a shouting match, you two can have a cage fight or whatever later but not now. So can I count you to behave yourself just for now? Be at least civil with him?”

Nick dreaded the idea of being in the same room as Jameson for any period of time. But, Judy was pleading with him to behave himself and keep his emotions in check. As much as he hated to do it, he could for now manage to be civil towards Jameson. He would keep his focus on Carrots and what she needed, forget his brother was even there unless he was needed to interact with him. Yes, Nick could do this for her.

Letting out a deep sigh Nick said, “alright Carrots, I think I can manage that.”

Judy gave him a beaming smile at that and said “thank you Nick. Come on we’ve kept him waiting long enough.”

Jameson for his part as the duo was talking took time to observe the pair and sort out his own thoughts and feelings. As he looked at them he had to admit it looked like the two had grown close. Judy had been keeping him appraised of his little brothers actions and behavior throughout the last day and a half, but he wanted to see them for himself. So far, it appeared Nick indeed was a different fox when around Judy, and this was just him watching in the first minute. It was that obvious, like night and day. He couldn’t wait to see how they interact further, hopefully Nick wouldn’t act different just because he was around.

As far as his thoughts on his little brother went, Jameson was regretting snapping as hard as he did. He probably lost ground with his brother rather than gaining any, which was not good. His hope right now is that Judy will chip away at Nick and get him up to the idea of actually talking to him. It was a high hope sure but bar bringing their mother in it’s the best shot he had to get Nick to hear his story. Regarding speaking to his brother he figured Nick would focus on Judy and pretend he wasn’t there, which was fine. He himself when acknowledged by his little brother would be amicable towards him, try not to let his emotions get in the way of things. Be professional, like if he was talking to a co-worker.

Nick and Judy exited the cruiser Judy immediately greeting James. “Hey James!”

James gave a wave and said “Hello there.”

Nick as he jumped out promptly ignored James and instead looked to where Judy would appear when she walked around the cruiser. Once he saw her then he looked towards his brother. “Jameson.”

Jameson detected his little brothers barely neutral tone and gave him a sad smile as he replied “Hey Nick.”

Nick saw the sad smile and the sad eyes of his big brother and averted his gaze to carrots. He didn’t want his brother to effect him at all. James wanted to shake his head but instead said “alright well let’s get inside, I’m curious to see this savage jaguar for myself.”

With that Jameson looked down at his crippled leg and hit the buttons on the mechanical brace turning it on. He then scrunched his eyes closed and griped his push bar tightly as the mechanical brace tightened, a pained grunt escaping him. It always hurt worse putting it on when it had been off for a day or more. Judy hadn’t seen it turn on before and cringed as she saw the results, her ears going back at the sounds of it. Nick for his part couldn’t tear his eyes away from James as he watched him go through that experience.

He couldn’t help but say “that looks…painful.”

Waiting for the brace to finish its work and for the pain to subside he replied through clenched teeth “it’s.. excruciating.”

Nick’s ears went back slightly at that, he could tell Jameson was in a lot of pain. “Then why do that to yourself?”

Jameson opened his eyes and looked up at his brother, massaging his leg he said “so I can walk. So I can feel like I have some semblance of normalcy in my life.”

Nick flinched slightly at that. It was hard for him to imagine being crippled, what it must be like to have to deal with that. His brother my be a grade a bastard, but…he didn’t deserve such misery. Then there was his face, he might have made a crude joke about it earlier, but every time he saw it he felt more and more bad for having done so. But then again…anger once again reminded him about what Jameson did. He deserved no sympathy.

Jameson watched as the mask Nick wore momentarily slipped before going right back into place, that resentment and anger in his eyes coming back as he looked upon him. Jameson wanted to sigh at that but instead turned and waved a paw forward. “Come on you two, let’s go to my office.”

The duo followed Jameson close behind as they entered the ZBI FETRU building, it was emptier than it was the first time Judy was here, but there were still mammals about. As they navigated the hallways she noticed she was seeing exclusively nocturnal predators about, not a prey mammal in sight. It made some sense though, prey don’t see to well in the dark while predators can still see like it was still daytime, if not better.

A few mammals greeted Jameson as they passed, he said greetings back, but Nick sensed something was off. As they navigated the hallways Nick took in as much as he could, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t interested in this place. Living in Zootopia he knew of the famed FETRU division of the ZBI, oh the story’s the underworld had of them. In the underbelly of Zootopia they called FETRU the “boogeymammals,” they did this because you never knew FETRU was coming for you…until they were there. So yeah, even Nick begrudgingly admitted that being here was just a little bit cool.

Just like it was just a smidgen awesome that Jameson was involved with them. In what capacity, honestly he wasn’t sure. He saw Jameson’s cruiser and caught a glimpse of his badge, but he didn’t bother taking a closer look. He had to figure it was something administrative though, Jameson was a banged up fox, no way he could do field work of any kind. Especially the type of field work FETRU does. As they passed yet another mammal, a wolf, the wolf gave a passing greeting to Jameson. Nick could tell it was genuine, the wolf actually liked Jameson instead of false cheer and speciesism. Jameson gave a greeting back and that’s when Nick figured out what was off. _“His greetings are hollow…why?”_

Finally they reached the cubicles and Nick was surprised when Jameson hooked a left. That surprise turned into shock when Jameson unlocked an actual office that had the tag Captain Jameson K. Wilde on it. Nick couldn’t help that his jaw dropped. “You’re in charge of FETRU?”

Jameson smirked at his little brother and replied, “Yep, well I co-lead at least. There are two teams compromised of a dozen mammals each, I lead First Team. I can also take command of Second Team if required, but that rarely happens.”

Nick not wanting to admit out loud that Jameson leading FETRU was pretty cool instead just let out a “huh” as he walked into the office. Looking around he saw commendations and awards, a bachelors and masters degree in criminal justice. Then he saw photos of their family, including a photo of him and Jameson together when they were younger. It was one taken after Jameson had gotten out of the hospital the first time, he was still mostly bandaged up but he was smiling like crazy. Nick was to, his brother had gotten so hurt because he saved him, and at the time that made him his hero. Little did he know James had that one hanged because that was the last time he had felt like one.

James took a seat at his desk and put in his log in credentials before gesturing the duo over to his side. “Alright pulling up the jam cams now in the rainforest district, looking forward to seeing this jaguar for myself.”

James stood from his chair and beckoned Judy to sit electing to stand next to his brother. “Here you go, pull up the exact location and time.”

Judy sat down in the chair and selected the place and time, “alright, intersection of Vine and Tahunga.”

Once Judy pulled up the proper footage the trio watched what happened from the start of the chase. James commented as it played to gather as much info as he could. “Wait, is that your tranq gun out?”

“Yep I darted him three times and no effect at all.”

Nick interjected, “besides piss him off more that is.”

James nodded a few times. “Interesting, that’s worth noting. It’s also disconcerting, if more mammals go savage, and in public, it could be a nightmare. ZPD would have to start carrying net guns and pole catchers. Keep playing.”

He gave a few comments of praise as he watched the pursuit, but then it came to after they swung away on the vines. They watched as the second they swung away a white van showed up and two wolves piled out approaching Mr. Manchas carefully. Nick made some speciesist comments about them which James gave him a small glare for to which Nick just shrugged. Then Judy made a potential connection, “Nighthowlers…..the wolves! The wolves are the Nighthowlers! That’s what Otterton was afraid about!”

James tilted his head as he said, “eh, maybe. One way we can find out…”

With that Jameson dialed a number on his office phone and put in on speaker. After about three rings an answer came “Agent Reynards, Gangland Division.”

“Hey Reynards, this is Captain Wilde. A question for you, do you know of a gang of primarily wolves called Nighthowlers?”

Reynards snorted. “That would be incredibly stereotypical to pick that name, but…they are wolves..hold on let me check.”

Nick gestured to the phone. “See even he thinks wolves aren’t the brightest.”

Reynards responded over the phone. “Don’t know who that is with you Wilde, but I like em.”

James shook his head at that. “Wilde meet Reynards, a fellow fox.”

“Wilde? Oh so your James little brother eh? Now I gotta meet you. Anyways, yep it looks like there is a gang comprised of wolves called the Nighthowlers, Serbian ties. Specialize in Auto Theft, ship cars overseas..and recent intros to mammalnapping, suspected at least. No real leads on that as of late, suspected they snatch the mammal and ship them overseas.”

James nodded. “Intriguing. I’m going to need more info…anyone working on them?”

“Yeah, Savage is working on them. He’d have more information for sure.”

James let out an audible groan at that. “Why’d it have to be him?”

“Sorry, know you don’t like the guy. But he’s the one working it. Don’t know his cell, I know you don’t, got his home address though.”

James really really really didn’t want to have to deal with Savage. But if it got Judy her otter…”fine text it to me, thanks Reynards.”

“No problem, you owe me a beer though.”

With that Reynards hung up and James shifted to face the duo, “well this is promising, but let’s settle in and see where the wolves took Mr. Manchas. From there we can make a plan, and I’ll pay *sighs* Savage a visit at his home.”

Nick glanced at Judy confused and she mouthed “later” to his look. Nick was lost but just shrugged as they focused on the screen and Judy pressed play on the video. They began to follow the van on the jam cams, but the van disappeared in a tunnel. Well at least to Judy, “where did they go?”

Nick took over at that point. “Gimme that, if I was doing something illegal. Which I’ve never done (James snorts and Judy gives him a look) I would use the maintenance tunnel 6B…and there it is.”

Nick then began expertly cycling through the cameras following the van. Seeing Nick do this, and with everything Nick had done so far Judy couldn’t help but saying to Nick “you know, I think you’d actually make a good cop.”

The moment Judy said that several thoughts and emotions immediately circled through his head, but the feeling that stuck with him the most was a sort of sense of pride at that. Nick gave her a look barely masking that as he said “oh how dare you” in a slightly playful tone. With that they turned back to the screen each with a small smile on there face that the other didn’t see. But James saw, and he was taking notes.

Soon they had a final destination, sort of. “Look their heading out of town.”

Judy nodded as she tilted her head. “Okay, but where does that road lead?”

Nick shrugged at that as he leaned back to stand straight. Shrugging he said “no clue Carrots.”

Judy turned to look at James. “James?”

He shook his head, “nope no clue, I can find out though.”

Taking over at the desk he did a quick search and on the first result they had their answer. “Hmm Cliffside Asylum is the only place that road leads to. Let’s see it says here it was closed in the 90s, which is why me and Nick have never heard of it. Old school looney bin closed by the city citing mistreatment, mysterious deaths, and possible experimentation. Oof the trifecta. Place by all records I can find should be completely abandoned. So if your savage Jaguar got taken there…”

Judy finished the thought getting excited “they might have caught and taken Otterton there!”

Nick leaning in to see a older picture of the place said “and maybe all the other missing mammals too.”

With that in the air Jameson ran a paw through the fur on top of his head as he thought. Soon he came to a conclusion. “Well if that’s true, that might be the headquarters for the gang. Darn, I need more information. Look I know that’s your next destination and the clock is ticking, but I’m not about to send you there without more information. Period. That means I’m ordering you Judy to wait until I talk to Savage and get his intel. I also want to look up some blueprints of that place. Once I know better what your walking into then you can go.”

Judy as much as she wanted to head straight there knew if she did, James wouldn’t be happy. There was the potential to be a huge hold up of a gang of wolves, that screams danger. So she was fine with waiting a bit. But she had a question she wanted to ask, “okay so if the gangs base is rumored to be there what happens? And what if it isn’t?”

James nodded and responded. “Well either way I would need evidence to support coming out there. If the gang is rumored to be there a conformation they are physically there added with Manchas being carted there would be enough to warrant the ZPD to show. That area is outside my direct jurisdiction in general, I could only go if the missing mammals were found there because that would make it a federal crime, It being a federal crime we are the closest feds able to respond so my authority would be allowed there. So if you find say a stash of stolen cars or all the missing mammals I can show up. Now if just Manchas and Otterton are there it’s ZPD you gotta call.”

Judy nodded understanding this, but Nicks brain had been thinking and it was time he voiced his thoughts. “To be honest I doubt the gang is set up there, definitely with a cache of stolen cars.”

Judy and James looked at Nick and Judy said “why do you figure that?”

“Well think about it, if your mostly stealing cars and shipping them overseas you’d want a warehouse in port areas like the Canals District, not outside of town far away from any docks. So why transport them out just to transport them back in and through the heart of the city? It’d waste to much time and be suspicious, a single van taking the route they took fine, but a large truck to transport vehicles? As far as the mammals are concerned why would a gang such as that concern themselves with a savage Jaguar? Or any savage mammal at all for that matter? What’s the appeal? Transporting a savage mammal would be a nightmare! As me and you carrots saw first hand sedatives don’t do squat with them!”

James had to admit, it was some sound thinking, and some of the same thinking he was having. He also had to agree with Judy’s earlier statement, “ _he would make a good cop.”_

Judy for her part once she digested what Nick said ended up agreeing with his thinking. “You know, your right Slick. It makes no sense. Maybe temporary storage then for that area? But still…it doesn’t fully add up. Either way, as I said Slick, I think you’d make a pretty good cop.”

Nick was feeling bashful so he waved a paw “as you think to much of me Carrots. I’m just using my street smarts.”

Jameson added in his input. “Judy’s right, that’s some smart thinking Nicholas. I’ve been thinking more or less the same thing. My hunch is if the gang is indeed involved, their only a middle mammal. Something big is going down, I can feel it, and the answers lie at Cliffside. I still need to talk with Savage, I got his address and he lives pretty much across the street. I’ll go and get what I need and come right back. In the meantime you two should head to the mess hall and get some dinner in you, because I doubt you two have eaten since breakfast. Well at least you Nicholas, I doubt Judy ate at all unless she eat with you there.”

Judy looked at James as he grabbed his suit jacket and said “how the heck did you know!?”

Giving her the trademark Wilde smirk he replied, “I didn’t, you just told me. Go eat. Now. Exit and follow the hallway left, at the intersection their will be a sign. Get lost ask am agent, there should be more than a few roaming around. Nicholas.”

Nick, who hates being called Nicholas by anyone but his mom looked over at Jameson and with a barely neutral tone said “yes Jameson?”

Pointing to Judy he said “please make sure she eats, and large portions only. If she tries to her a small or medium, correct that for me.”

Nick not expecting that looked at the frustrated and embarrassed face of Judy and he grinned at Judy as he replied “you got it Captain.”

James shook his head at that and barely resisted a chuckle as Judy hid her face behind her ears in embarrassment. Instead he walked past them and went towards the exit, only chuckling once he was out of earshot. “ _Now I see what Judy was telling me about, Nick is coming out of his shell around her for sure. They also got an interesting chemistry about them….it kinda reminds me of me and Sarah..”_

*Savage, at his apartment*

Jack Savage was laying his large and lavish bed in nothing but his boxers, just thinking. The subject of his thoughts? One Jameson Wilde. Ever since Jameson had snapped on him that day he had been a point of thought, at least briefly. That look of sadness behind the anger in his eyes was one thing that stuck with Jack, and after hearing Jameson’s explanation into his past it left him feeling a little guilty. He also treated Officer Hopps a little brashly just to try and get a leg up on Wilde, that had left a bad taste in his mouth.

Thinking on that confrontation he said to his companion “you know Wilde said you liked him a lot better than me the other day.”

Assistant Director Skye Winters, an Arctic vixen with deep blue eyes and Savage’s secret lover, who was completely naked looked over at him and replied playfully “I do like him more than you. He doesn’t tease.”

Jack turned his head and looked at her saying “ouch, that’s hurtful.”

Skye stuck her tongue out at him and replied, “you know for the sake of our relationship staying private I need to act like I dislike you at work.”

Jack nodded and said, “seeing you ‘angry’ at me is kind of a turn on gotta admit.”

Skye smacked his chest and replied “pervert.”

At that they both laughed before Skye snuggled up to him. After a minute she said “you’ve been mentioning Wilde a lot lately, should I be worried about competition?”

Jack shook his head at that replying, “ew, no. It’s just I’ve been reconsidering how I’ve been treating him, like he’s a bad egg. Truth be told I’ve pretty much been an ass to him.”

Skye snarked out “you’re an ass to pretty much everyone you know.”

Jack playfully booped Skye’s nose in response before saying “yeah yeah. But I’ve been an ass to him more than everyone else. He finally called me on it the other day, told me his backstory. He’s been dealt some real bad cards Skye, real bad, and I treated him like he was lesser.”

Skye hummed as she absorbed that information. “Sounds like you owe him an apology.”

It was at that moment there was a knock on his apartment door. “Who the hell could be knocking at this hour?”

The person on the other side of the door heard and answered. “It’s Captain Wilde. Open up Savage.”

Hearing that it was a co-worker at the door, and ironically the co worker that had been the topic of discussion these past five minutes, Savage jumped up. Grabbing a can of musk mask he spayed the can vigorously to hide the Skye’s scent before grabbing his pants. Slipping them on quickly he went over to the door and opened it, keeping the chain connected so it opened only a crack. Sure enough, it was indeed Jameson Wilde at his door. “Wilde? What a unexpected surprise…I guess? What are you doing here?”

James when Savage answered the door quickly had to mask his surprise at what he smelled, instead focusing on why he was here. “Savage, sorry to intrude so I’ll keep this short. I need your file on a gang called the Nighthowlers ASAP.”

Savage was confused. “What’s the reason you need the file?”

Resisting a sigh he said “know about the ZPDs missing mammals cases?”

Savage raised his eyebrows in surprise at that. “You think?”

James nodded. “It’s a possibility. Hopps is on one of those cases and she just showed me footage of a pair of wolves nabbing a Jaguar. We even know where they went.”

This had Savages’ attention “Where?”

“Place called Cliffside Asylum.”

Working through his memory Savage replied “that’s outside the city…I can tell you now odds are that ain’t the gang. To outside, they mostly work in port areas and the entirety of the Canals District. They couldn’t even ship mammals out of state there. Only one road, they’d have to take them back through the city.”

James nodded. “That’s what I figured. Still Nighthowlers were mentioned in Hopps case by her missing mammal to the mammal that was just nabbed by wolves. It’d be one heck of a coincidence.”

Savage bobbed his head. “Yeah it would…hmm. They could be hired muscle or a middle mammal, they have history of that to. I’ll send the file to your email.”

Jameson nodded once and said “thank you. Sorry to disturb you at this hour, I’ll take my leave.”

James turned away and took one step, he tried to resist it, he really did. But he couldn’t, turning back with a smirk on his face he said aloud “oh and Winters! My 48 hours are up with no failures! returning to regular duty!”

Savage looked at him with wide eyes looking like he was about to keel over, and after a moment a very embarrassed Skye responded with a meek tone that sounded like she was about to die “…okay.”

James very satisfied to have them both so flustered turned to start walking away but Savage snapped out of his stupor. “Wilde!”

James turned his head and said “if your worried about me telling anyone you can forget about it. I a fox was married to a bunny, I know how inter species relationships are in the public eye. As far as the fraternization policy, I could care less. It’s your business. Still think Winters could do better though.”

That caused Jack to snort. “So does she…thank you Wilde…and I’m sorry for digging into your past so fervently and not trusting you. Your past should just be that your past, I had no right to dig.”

James hadn’t been expecting the apology. “Ah..forget about it, I’ve dealt with much worse.” With that James turned his head forward and walked away.

*Judy and Nick in the mess hall*

Nick as instructed had kept a close eye on Judy making sure she ate, he even had to correct the portion size as Jameson had predicted. He made sure to tease her plenty for that, and only stopped teasing when it felt his left arm was going to fall off from all her punches. Judy had gotten a extra large salad which she ate in such a quick manner that had nick asking if she was secretly a vacuum cleaner. The punch for that one hurt.

Nick for the second time in a day, had meat. That was something he hadn’t been expecting to happen in the slightest. The last time that had happened was back when he was a kit, since then eating actual meat was a very rare occasion. This time it had been a chicken sandwich and some fries, the second the chef there had heard he was a Wilde he made the selection for him. He and Carrots were the only two in the mess hall besides the staff, but they picked a back row were the could talk without being heard. They ate, he joked, she abused him, it was fun,. So safe to say Nick was in honestly a fantastic mood, the only thing that could ruin the mood would be…

“You know Slick I’m proud of you, you behaved yourself.”

The topic of his brother. “Well I mostly pretended he didn’t exist and focused on a certain bunny. He was useful, but I’m ready to leave him behind and get this case solved.”

Judy frowned a little at that. “I don’t get it.”

Nick’s eyebrows narrowed slightly. He really hoped she wasn’t going to say what he was thinking she would. “Get what fluff?”

Judy detected the tone, she backed down earlier when on the topic of James. But seeing the sad look James gave Nick pretty much the entire time she wasn’t backing down this time. Nick can explode on her he wants but she was going to get answers. “I don’t get why you can’t even give your brother a chance! I can see he’s trying so very hard but you shut him down! It’s like all you want is to hate him!”

Nick growled a bit, good mood was gone now. “Do you even know what he did?”

Judy’s ears lowered a bit when she heard the small growl but she wasn’t backing down. “Yes I do, he told me his side, and I can’t understand your reasons if you don’t give them to me! I especially can’t understand why you won’t even hear his side!”

Nick slammed a paw on the table as he stood. “He walked out on me and my mom! Isn’t that enough of a reason!? No note, no goodbye, nothing! He abandoned us!”

Judy stood to and pointed at him. “Well didn’t you walk out on your mom to!? Haven’t visited or spoken to her in a while right!?”

Nick recoiled slightly. “..how do you know that?”

“How to you think!? James told me so because unlike you he’s gone to see here since he’s been back and reconciled! She told him she hasn’t seen you in years! So you’re going to have to come up with a better excuse then that!

Nick growled again. “Fine! You want more reasons!? He walked out on me! His little brother! He was my idol! My hero! I looked up to him for everything! Wanted to be like him! Then poof one night he disappears without so much as a goodbye! What kind of brother does that!? Huh!? Then the next time I see him, years later, he is drugged out of his mind on something looking homeless! My idol, my big bro Jameson who ran away and abandoned his family is a junkie! The strongest mammal I ever knew turned into a drugged up coward!”

Judy gestured to the building they were in, “well he certainly isn’t one now!”

Nick founded the table. “Oh don’t get me started on that! He suddenly shows up out of the blue flaunting a big federal job with his fancy suits and trying to get a sympathy card with injuries he got with his cushy job! He’s so obviously loaded and he’s apparently been for awhile yet did he help me or mom? No! He’s given no support and suddenly he shows up like the last 16 years hasn’t happened! He acts like he’s my big brother when he lost that right! He’s no true brother!”

Judy was confused, “So you hate that he made it?”

“Your damn right Judy! He cut me and mom loose and freaking made it! Meanwhile moms still living in the same shit house we grew up in and I’m living in the dirt! I have to hustle to put clothes on my back and food in my stomach and he’s been living the highlife! Expensive suits, expensive apartments, high paying job, respect! Meanwhile I’m spit on as I pass and treated like I’m worse than nothing! To think he had the gall to say his life hasn’t been a cakewalk! And the gall you have to act all superior, like you have any right to weigh in and tell me how I should feel!”

Judy couldn’t believe it, she was about to say he didn’t know how Jameson’s life was because he hasn’t bothered to hear it. But the subject of their argument himself flew into view and promptly grabbed Nick by the collar and tossed him backward onto a nearby pillar. Judy could almost sense the fury coming off of Jameson as he bared down on his little brother. It would appear his patience had expired.

Jameson had been eavesdropping dropping on their argument since it started. He was curious to know Nick’s reasons himself and hearing them just ticked him off. It was coming only from a place of pure anger. When Nick has stood and rounded the table he had considered stepping in, same as every time Nick growled at Judy. He was unnecessarily taking his anger out on Judy who was just trying to understand and help. He had been progressively getting worked up listening in but it reached its apex when Nick made Judy the topic. His patience ran out for not being heard, and for Nick being a jerk to Judy.

He crossed the room to them in a flash and grabbed his little brother by the collar tossing him into a pillar. Nick was in a state of pure fury, his emotions well out of check and it was causing to behave irrationally. James closed the distance quickly and dodged an attempted punch thrown from Nick, and in response he took Nick to the ground and pinned his arms and legs down so he couldn’t do anything. Nick snarled at him as he thrashed meekly trying to break free of his brothers grip.

James in response gave a snarl of his own, and it was much more furious as he said while still snarling “ENOUGH!”

Judy took a step forward to intervene, this was exactly what she didn’t want to happen. But one look from Jameson’s colorless eye warmed her that this was a matter not for her. So she stepped back quickly. When James snarled back at Nick with his level of intensity Nick stopped seeing red as he instincts told him that it would be very unwise to continue. So Nick’s snarl turned into a low growl as his vision cleared. Then his eye caught something and it died outright.

When James had taken Nick down his necklace had popped out of his shirt. Leaving what was on the strap to be seen by all. There was so much anger, sadness, and pain laced in James tone as he spook “Yeah you see it don’t you Nick. You know what it is?”

Nick was frozen now, he knew exactly what it was, and he knew what it’s placement on the body meant. Their mother wore hers in the same place after all. “It’s a traditional wedding band.”

“And do you know what it means that it’s around my neck?”

Nick nodded. James wanted him to say it. “Say it!”

Swallowing Nick said “you..had a mate…and she died.”

“I had a mate yeah, and a daughter! They were both taken from me! Murdered in a fire! My little girl was only eight years old!”

A tear fell onto Nick’s face. All of Nicks anger left him in that exact moment. Instead it was replaced with nothing but sadness, he had a niece he never met. “What was her name?”

James released Nick and stumbled back, going to his knees instead as tears fell. Nick sat up and James choked out “her name was Rachel, my little swing fiend.”

Any and all anger and resentment Nick felt towards his older brother was gone now. James had gotten married, had a kid, they were probably the reason he got his act together. Then he lost them both. The fact that James was even still alive at this point…the pure emptiness and sadness he must feel, and Nick had said James life had been easy. Seeing his older brother crying in front him over such loss took him back to the only other time he’d seen his older brother cry. When they found out their dad had been killed. So with all of those feelings of anger gone he embraced his brother and gave him a shoulder to cry on as he wept, and in the end, a few tears of his own escaped him as he thought of the niece he never got to meet.

*1 hour later*

James told nick everything. After he had stopped crying Nick decided to hear James story, so he told him everything. Every high, every low, every triumph, every shattering defeat. He answered all questions and held nothing back, including reveling his past as Scythe. That story came with a confidentiality agreement to sign but Nick quickly signed it. The biggest reveal for Nick at least dame at the end though, where James told him his wife and daughter had been bunnies.

Nick hadn’t been expecting that in the slightest, and when he learned that his mind went to the bunny that’d been dragging him around. He quickly ended that though, it was weird and out of the blue. Personally he couldn’t find any problem with his brother being one, heck, how could he when he knew Finnick was one? Nick for his part hadn’t really considered dating out of his species before, but honestly no vixen had ever caught his eye before. But certain other females certainly have, but those were thoughts for another time.

All in all it had been a depressing conversation, and it made Nick feel like a grade A+ jerk. But he was felling that in general since he had snapped hard on Hopps again, this time much much worse. He apologized to his brother for not giving a chance and agreed to try and mend their relationship, once this case was done with. He also promised to visit mom, which was something James had been adamant he do. He remembered the words he gave him “mom forgave me for everything I’ve done, and I was a killer. I doubt your popsicles are going to ruffle her fur any, and as far as your time as Red Rouge goes….its up to you if you want to tell her and how much.”

Once their conversation was over they rejoined Judy who had been letting them talk it out while researching Cliffside’s layout. She found the blueprints and studied them carefully, finding a pipe that she and Nick would fit in that would take them into the building. It lead to a back room that hopefully would be empty, if not, well she’d think of something. As she did her research she tried not to think about the two fox brothers making up, tried not to think about one in particular, but she failed. Spectacularly.

Sure Nick scared her a bit with his actions during that argument and with James. But she knew he didn’t mean it, his actions came from a place of pain. She figured he’d probably apologize profusely once they were done in there. She’d probably have to make his arm numb with punches just to get him to stop, she chuckled at the thought.

After that thought finished the door to Jameson’s office and the two foxes emerged. James looked like he pulled it together, but she could see he was wearing a mask. Nick for his part looked like he was, in a lull of sorts. The second he spotted her though his face took on a guilty look that had Judy pointing at him, “if you start apologizing I’m going to hit you. I know you didn’t mean to snap on me like you did, and I know you feel guilty about it. I for one want to put that moment behind us as a hiccup on both our parts and move forward. Got it?”

Nick grabbed his left arm as if she was going to teleport to him and quickly said “yes ma’am.”

James chuckled at that as he walked towards her. “Before you ask yes we straightened things out, he heard my side, and we are going to try and work stuff out once you solve this case. Speaking of we sadly don’t have any more time for mushy mushy stuff and distractions so what do you got?”

Judy quickly laid out her plan of how they would infiltrate Cliffside and James added some suggestions here and there. In the end it got his seal of approval and he quickly ushered the duo into the parking garage so they could get going, he’d wasted enough of their time with his emotions getting out of check no matter how beneficial it was to his relationship with his little brother. Soon he was saying his goodbyes as the duo reached their cruiser when Judy’s phone began to ring. Pointing to it he gave her one final pointer, “if you’re looking to infiltrate a place stealthily, I’d put that thing on do not disturb. Good luck you two, you find anything you call me or Bogo immediately and the Calvary will come. Stay low and stay safe, I’ll have the warrant for you to enter ready and sent to you by the time you get there.”

With that James turned to walk back in the building and Judy and Nick looked at each other before climbing in the cruiser. Destination, Cliffside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done! 15000+ words and several college papers later! These two chapters had a lot of laughs and a lot of heartfelt moments that I hope you all thoroughly enjoyed!
> 
> I normally tell you the things I fixed that were wrong with the policing in the movie, but instead I want to see if any of you can spot it instead!
> 
> As I said earlier, dead writer walking so I’ll call it here. So next on my list will be a chapter for A Father Figure so keep an eye out for that!
> 
>   
> But until then this is TheConcernedF0X signing off! See you next time!

**Author's Note:**

> Done! So if you ever read the first draft of this story and remember it you should see some minor and major differences and I hope it went and goes over better! So it's imperative I receive feedback!
> 
> That's pretty much all I have to say really.
> 
> So next time on A True Brother! Judy and Jameson's conversation continues and Judy realizes she forgot to do something realllyyyy important!
> 
> This next chapter should be done in just a few days so keep an eye out for it!
> 
> Until then this is TheConcernedF0X signing off! See you next time!


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